13th edition of the SAFF Championship postponed to 2021

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced SAFF to reschedule the biggest football competition in South Asia.

The 13th edition of the SAFF Championship, which was scheduled to take place in September this year in Bangladesh, has been postponed to 2021. 

The decision was taken on Monday at an online meeting of the South Asian Football Federation, with the General Secretaries of the participating football teams of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan along with SAFF General Secretary Anwarul Huq present.

"The SAFF Cup has been postponed to next year owing to the current situation and we will decide in the coming days when the championship will take place next year," Huq said.

Maldives are the reigning champions, having defeated India 2-1 in 2018 final to lift the title for a second time while India last won the SAFF Championship in 2015.

Bangladesh is set to be the hosts for the fourth time in the history of the competition.

Pakistan’s wait for a return to international football goes on. This time, however, it isn’t due to the turmoil that has plagued the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for the last several years but due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the latest sporting casualty of which was September’s SAFF Championship. 

Pakistan haven’t played a single competitive match since June last year when they lost to Cambodia over two legs in the first round of Asia’s joint qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.