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Published 17:10 IST, October 6th 2021

SAFF Championship: All you need to know about schedule, teams, points table, top scorer

The 13th edition of the SAFF Championship is underway in Male, Maldives, and it is a biennial international men's football championship.

Reported by: Prithvi Virmani
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Image: AP | Image: self
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The 13th edition of the SAFF Championship is underway in Male, Maldives. It is a biennial international men's football championship. The Indian Football team, currently led by Sunil Chhetri, are the most successful team in the SAFF Championship, having won the competition seven times. The current champions are the Maldives, who defeated India 2-1 in the final.

Nations Participating in the SAFF Championship 2021

India

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Nepal

Sri Lanka

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Bangladesh

Maldives

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Pakistan and Bhutan to refrain from participating in the SAFF Championship 2021

The Bureau of the FIFA Council suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on April 7 2021, due to third-party interference. It was deemed as a serious violation of the FIFA statutes. The PFF headquarters in Lahore was taken over by a group of protestors and thereby dislodged the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee of the PFF led by Haroon Malik. The reins of administration were taken over by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah. FIFA warned PFF of what the consequences would be if the status quo was not restored. However, the situation did not change, and so they forced the FIFA Council to suspend Pakistan FA. This is why no footballing activity can be undertaken by the Pakistan national team. 

On the other hand, Bhutan decided to abstain from participating in the tournament because the Bhutan government did not give the permissions required to send the national team abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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SAFF Championship 2021 fixtures & results

Date Fixture Time Score

October 1

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 16:30 0-1

October 1

Nepal vs Maldives 21:30 1-0

October 4

Bangladesh vs India 16:30 1-1

October 4

Sri Lanka vs Nepal

21:30

2-3

October 7

India vs Sri Lanka 16:30 TBP

October 7

Maldives vs Bangladesh

21:30

TBP

October 10

Maldives vs Sri Lanka 16:30 TBP

October 10

Nepal vs India

21:30

TBP

October 13

Bangladesh vs Nepal 16:30 TBP

October 13

India vs Maldives 21:30 TBP

All the matches are scheduled to be played at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives.

SAFF Championship 2021 table

Position Team P W D L GF GA GD Points
1 Nepal 2 2 0 0 4 2 2 6
2 Bangladesh 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 4
3 India 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
4 Maldives 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
5 Sri Lanka 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0

*The table was last updated on October 4 after Sri Lanka vs Nepal match.

The final will be played between the teams that finish first and second in the SAFF Championship 2021 table on October 16.

Top scorers at SAFF Championship 2021

Name Goals

Manish Dangi (Nepal)

 

1

Topu Barman (Bangladesh)

 

1

Sunil Chhetri (India)

 

1

Yeasin Arafat (Bangladesh)

 

1

Marvin Hamilton (Sri Lanka)

 

1

Dillon De Silva (Sri Lanka)

 

1

Suman Lama (Nepal)

 

1

Anjan Bista (Nepal)

 

1

Ayush Ghalan (Nepal)

 

1

Image: AP

17:10 IST, October 6th 2021