The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Executive Committee meeting that was held in Kathmandu on Wednesday (8 Jan 2025) has approved the awarding of the marketing rights of a certain number of SAFF competitions to its commercial partner Sportfive.
The first among the list of competitions approved at the meeting was holding the SAFF Championship 2025 in a home or away format from 15 June – 25 July. Under the agreement, the rights shall be with Sportfive until 2029 with the championship taking place biennially.
“We will try our best to hold the championship in a home or an away format but if there arises any issue later on we shall do it in a centralized format this year,” said SAFF General Secretary Anwarul Huq after the meeting.
It was also decided to hold SAFF’s first-ever club competition from 2026 consisting of eight teams. Among the eight teams, the country that is ranked at the top in the AFC Club Rankings shall have two slots.
A women’s club competition is also on the cards from 2025. Another competition that was approved is the SAFF U-23 Championship from 2026.
SAFF Youth Competitions approved at the meeting;
SAFF U-19 Championship, 8-18 May 2025 (India)
SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship, 11-21 July 2025 (Bangladesh)
SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship, 14-24 September 2025
SAFF U-17 Championship, 17-27 October 2025
