The South Asian Football Confederation (SAFC) announced the date and venue of the SAFF Championship 2026 on Tuesday amid confusion and uncertainty.
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The South Asian Football Confederation (SAFC) on Tuesday announced the date and venue of the SAFF Championship 2026 amid confusion and uncertainty.
As expected, this time the competition is being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The time of the event is from November 4 to 17. This will be the 15th edition of the SAFF Championship and for the first time since 2018, the competition has returned to Bangladesh.
What the federation has said is that it is confident that all South Asian countries will participate in the competition. From the perspective of Nepali football, this is the main point. If the current situation continues, Nepal will not be able to play in this competition for the first time in its history, because Nepal is currently undergoing a FIFA ban. There will be no opportunity to participate in the ban.
The SAFF Championship has been organized since 1993. Since then, Nepal has been continuously participating in the biggest competition in South Asian football.
All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) spokesperson Suresh Shah said that he is still optimistic about Nepal's participation in the SAFF Championship and that some decisions may come soon.
He said, 'The SAFF Championship is a very important competition for Nepali football. Naturally, we also want Nepal's participation to be certain. But in the situation where ANFA is under ban, no definite opinion can be made public. Therefore, we request the government to pave the way for lifting the ban.'
'We are expecting a positive solution. As soon as the ban is lifted, all necessary processes will be taken forward to secure Nepal's participation in upcoming international competitions, including the SAFF Championship,' said spokesperson Shah. 'Our main objective is to lift the ban as soon as possible and return Nepali football to international competitions.'
