The 2021 SAFF Championship, known as

Ooredoo Ooredoo QSC ( ar, أريد; formerly ''Qtel'') is a Qatari multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Doha. Ooredoo provides mobile, wireless, wire line, and content services with market share in domestic and international telec ...

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 South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

organised by

South Asian Football Federation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), founded in 1997, is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia and is part of the larger Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Mald ...

(SAFF). Initially, it was decided to be hosted by

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2020, but was postponed to September 2021 in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. However, the tournament was postponed again to October due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, with

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

as host.

Host selection

On 11 April 2018, SAFF decided to allow

to host the tournament after the restoration of

Pakistan Football Federation Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in Pakistan. Founded in 1947, its headquarters are at the FIFA Football House in Lahore, Punjab near Punjab Stadium. The federation manages the men's and women's ...

'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 Kazi Md. Salahuddin ( bn, কাজী সালাউদ্দিন; born 23 September 1953) is a Bangladeshi former football player currently serving as a president of South Asian Football Federation. He was a member of the Shadhin Bangla ...

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

, 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

and lack of sponsors, after which Nepalese Prime Minister

KP Sharma Oli Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli ( ne, खड्गप्रसाद शर्मा ओली, ; born 22 February 1952) is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He served three terms as prime minister from 11 October 2015 to 3 Augu ...

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 The Football Association of Maldives (FAM), founded in 1982, is the governing body of football in the Maldives. The association under the guidance of the Ministry of Youth & Sports is responsible for all regulatory aspects of the sport in the Ma ...

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

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.

Venue

The National Football Stadium in capital

Malé Malé (, ; dv, މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 252,768 and an area of , it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern ...

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

and the withdrawal of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

, the format was changed to a single group round robin format where the top two teams advance to the final.

Table

Matches

---- ---- ---- ----

Final

Champion

Awards

Goalscorers

Prize money

Prize money amounts were announced in 2021.

Broadcasting rights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:SAFF Championship, 2021 2021 in Asian football

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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