The 2021 SAFF Championship, known as
Ooredoo SAFF Championship 2021 for sponsorship reasons, was the thirteenth edition of the
SAFF Championship
The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...
, the biennial international men's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
championship of
South Asia organised by
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). Initially, it was decided to be hosted by
Pakistan in 2020, but was postponed to September 2021 in
Bangladesh. However, the tournament was postponed again to October due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, with
Maldives as host.
Host selection
On 11 April 2018, SAFF decided to allow
Pakistan to host the tournament after the restoration of
Pakistan Football Federation's membership by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and since then it would be country's first international football tournaments. However, on 15 September 2019, SAFF president
Kazi Salahuddin and general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal along with representatives of seven member countries decided to host the regional tournament in Bangladesh. This was to be the last edition to be held in even years, as it was decided that the subsequent editions would be held in odd years.
However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed from its original date of 2020 to 2021, and it was supposed to be held in September 2021. Later, Bangladesh withdrew from hosting due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and lack of sponsors, after which
Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asked
All Nepal Football Association
The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali language, Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the Nepal national football team, natio ...
(ANFA) to "initiate the process" of hosting the tournament in Nepal. In July, the ANFA received an offer to host the tournament. Meanwhile, the
Football Association of Maldives submitted their bid to host the tournament. On 9 August 2021, Maldives was declared as the hosts after an online meeting of the executive committee.
Participating nations
The
Pakistan Football Federation was sanctioned by FIFA in April 2021, hence they were ineligible to participate in the competition. Bhutan initially abstained from participation as their government refused to permit the national football team to travel abroad. However, Bhutan's withdrawal was only confirmed when the fixtures were released on 18 August 2021.
Squads
For the list of squads that appeared in the tournament, see
2021 SAFF Championship squads
This article lists the confirmed national football squads for the 2021 SAFF Championship tournament held in the Maldives, in between 1 and 16 October 2021. The position listed for each player is per the squad list in the official match reports by t ...
.
Venue
The
National Football Stadium
Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadi ...
in capital
Malé hosted all the matches.
Officials
;Referees
* Yousif Saeed Hassan
* Ammar Ashkanani
* Majed Al-Shamrani
* Feras Taweel
* Sajëçon Zayniddinov
* Akhrol Riskullaev
;Assistant Referees
* Ahmed Sabah
* Ahmed Sabah Qasim Al-Baghadi
* Yaquob Al-Mutairi
* Omar Ali Al-Jamal
* Mohamad Kazzaz
* Farhod Kuralov
* Husniddin Shodmonov
Group stage
After the suspension of
Pakistan and the withdrawal of
Bhutan, the format was changed to a single group round robin format where the top two teams advance to the final.
Table
Matches
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Final
Champion
Awards
Goalscorers
Prize money
Prize money amounts were announced in 2021.
Broadcasting rights
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:SAFF Championship, 2021
2021 in Asian football
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
Association football events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
October 2021 sports events in Asia
2021 SAFF Championship
International association football competitions hosted by the Maldives