SAFF Championship: Executive Committee to wait till 15 May to find final team

The decision was taken at the SAFF Congress on the 6 May.

The SAFF Congress held an executive meeting on 6 May in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where a number of important decisions were made regarding the operations of the South Asian Football Federation, and also the upcoming SAFF Championship in June. The SAFF Executive Committee also sketched a plan on organising the first ever SAFF Club Championship in near future.

AIFF General Secretary, Shaji Prabhakaran being elected as an AFC Executive Committee Member in the meeting, was another key highlight of the conference.

Among such important discussions, there was also some light thrown on the addition of another nation into the SAFF Championship 2023. In the past few days it has been learnt that after the inclusion of Kuwait in the competition, another nation will be invited to feature in the SAFF Championship, to make the total number of teams to eight. 

Today, the decision was made that the committee will wait until 15 May, to find another team for the competition. 

SAFF Championship 2023

So far a total of seven teams have been selected for the 2023 SAFF Championship - India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal - with the eighth set to be confirmed in the coming days.

The eight teams will then be placed into two groups of four, following which the top two teams from the groups will qualify for the semi-finals. 

India’s performances in the SAFF Championship

India has been the most successful nation in the competition's history, having won eight out of the 14 editions. Their most recent triumph came in 2021, when they defeated Nepal in the final.

India’s biggest aim in the 2023 SAFF Championship, will be to prepare this team, and bring them into the best possible shape, ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in January 2024. Also, with the inclusion of a number of new players, it is increasingly important that Igor Stimac gets some competitive matches, so that he can find his strongest XI.