SAFF U-17 Women's Championship: Format, fixtures and more

The tournament will be played from the 20th of March to the 28th of March.

The 2023 SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship is an international competition, which features the U-17 women’s teams of the nations belonging to South Asia. Last year, the tournament was played in Sri Lanka, and the Blue Tigresses won that edition, getting some momentum before the U-17 Women’s World Cup. 

This year, there is also one additional guest nation that is going to feature in the tournament. This nation is Russia, which has been banned by both FIFA and UEFA, following their invasion of Ukraine, but surprisingly the South Asian Football Federation has allowed the country to feature in the tournament.

Countries participating

Five nations are taking part in this year’s SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship, they are-

India

Bhutan

Bangladesh

Nepal

Russia

Format

SAFF U17 women’s championship will follow the Round Robin format, as in the competition, each nation will face every other nation once, and at the end of all the games, the team that gathers the most amount of points will be declared the winners of the competition.

The teams playing are going to be ranked on points. For a win, a team will get three points, one point for a draw, and none for a loss. At the end of all the games, if two teams are tied on points, then the following criteria are to be followed.

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams

2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams tied teams
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams
4. Goal difference in all group matches
5. Goals scored in all group matches
6. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group
7. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points)
8. Drawing of lots

Venue

Bangladesh is the host nation for this year’s SAFF U17 Women’s championship, and all games are to be played at the BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Player Eligibility

All Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to compete in the tournament.

India’s squad for the tournament

Goalkeepers: Anisha Oraon, Khushi Kumari, Shreya Sharma

Defenders: Heena Khatun, Thoi Thoi Devi Yendrenbam, Juhi Singh, Akhila Rajan, Vikshit Bara, Nishima Kumari, Thoibisana Chanu Toijam

Midfielders: Menaka Devi Lourembam, Shilji Shaji, Babita Kumari, Shaulina Dang, Shivani Toppo, Shibani Devi Nongmeikapam, Lalita Boypai, Ribahunshisha Kharshiing

Forwards: Pooja, Cindy Remruatpuii Colney

Fixtures

March 20: Nepal vs India, 1445 hrs IST

March 24: India vs Bangladesh, 1845 hrs IST

March 26: India vs Bhutan, 1445 hrs IST

March 28: Russia vs India, 1845 hrs IST

Standings

Pos	Team	Points	MP	W	L	D	GD
1	India	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Russia	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Nepal	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0	0	0