South Asian Football Federation
 | |
 SAFF members | |
| Formation | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Type | Sports organization |
| Headquarters | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Membership | 7 member associations |
President | Kazi Salahuddin |
General Secretary | Anwarul Huq |
Parent organization | AFC |
| Website | saffederation |
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 current members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
History[]
The SAFF was founded in 1997, with Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In 2000, they expanded to 7 members, adding Bhutan. In 2005, Afghanistan joined too, but later, left in 2015, to join then newly formed Central Asian Football Association.[1]
Presidents[]
| President | Years |
|---|---|
 P. P. Lakshmanan |
1997–2001[2] |
 Ganesh Thapa |
2001–2009[3] |
 Kazi Salahuddin |
2009–present[4] |
Because of health issues in 2016, Rodrigo Ranjith replaced Salahuddin as acting president for two months.[5] Salahuddin was voted to resume presidency in March 2016.[6] Next SAFF election will be held in April, 2022.
Member associations[]
| Code | Association | Founded | SAFF affiliation | Top tier league (men's) | Top tier league (women's) | National team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAN | Bangladesh |
1972 | 1997 | Bangladesh Premier League | Bangladesh Women's Football League | |
| IND | India |
1937 | 1997 | Indian Super League | Indian Women's League | |
| MDV |  Maldives |
1982 | 1997 | Dhivehi Premier League | ||
| NEP | Nepal |
1951 | 1997 | Martyr's Memorial A-Division League | National Women's league | |
| PAK |  Pakistan |
1947 | 1997 | Pakistan Premier League | National Women Football Championship | |
| SRI |  Sri Lanka |
1939 | 1997 | Sri Lanka Super League | ||
| BHU |  Bhutan |
1983 | 2000 | Bhutan National League | Women's National League |
Former members[]
| Country | Year | Association |
|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan |
2005–2015 | Afghanistan Football Federation |
Afghanistan, who had joined the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) in the 2005 expansion 2 phase, left the association in 2015 to become a founding member of Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
Competitions[]
The South Asian Football Federation runs several competitions on subcontinental level.
National team[]
- SAFF Championship
- South Asian Games Men's football tournament
- SAFF U-18 Championship
- SAFF U-15 Championship
- South Asian Games Women's football tournament
- SAFF Women's Championship
- SAFF U-18 Women's Championship
- SAFF U-15 Women's Championship
Club[]
The South Asian Football Federation announced in April 2011 that they had decided to start a new tournament for association football club sides, the SAFF Club Championship, with the inaugural edition to be held in Bangladesh from 1–15 September of the same year.[7] However the competition was postponed and desires to revive the competition were again announced in July 2013 but the competition has still not started with accusations that India, the prime nation in the competition, are not altogether interested in participating.[8]
Sri Lanka was supposed to host first edition in August 2014.[9] That however did not happen.
A new possible start was set for December 2016 but later announced that 2017 would see the first edition.[10][11] This again was changed and announced that 2018 would be the start of the tournament.[12] But the Club Championship was never a reality and only remained as a plan on paper.
Current title holders[]
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National teams (Men's) | |||||
| Men's Championship | 2021 | India
|
8th | Nepal
|
2023 |
| South Asian Games Men's tournament | 2019 | Nepal
|
4th | Bhutan
|
2023 |
| U-18/U-19 Men's Championship | 2019 | India
|
1st | Bangladesh
|
2022 |
| U-15 Men's Championship | 2019 | India
|
3rd | Nepal
|
2021 |
| National teams (Women's) | |||||
| Women's Championship | 2019 | India
|
5th | Nepal
|
2022 |
| South Asian Games Women's tournament | 2019 | India
|
3rd | Nepal
|
2023 |
| U-18/U-19 Women's Championship | 2021 | Bangladesh
|
1st | India
|
2022 |
| U-15 Women's Championship | 2019 | India
|
1st | Bangladesh
|
|
| Club teams (Men's) | |||||
| SAFF Club Championship | 2022 | TBC | 1st | TBC | |
Rankings[]
Rankings are calculated by FIFA.
Men's National Teams[]
|
Leading Men's Team:  |
Women's National Teams[]
|
Leading Women's team: 
|
Top goalscorer in men's football[]
- As of 20 October 2021, the players with most goals scored in career from South Asia (SAFF) are:
By number of goals[](Players with at least 20 goals)
|
By country[](only highest goalscorers from each country)
|
- Players in bold are active international players.
Top goalscorer in women's football[]
- As of 20 October 2021, the players with most goals scored in career from South Asia (SAFF) are:
By number of goals[](Players with at least 35 goals)
|
By country[]
|
![[icon]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png){kind=small}
- Players in bold are active international players.
See also[]
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
- Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
- East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
- West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
References[]
- ^ "Afghanistan to play SAFF Championship for the last time in 2015". 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Ganesh Thapa no longer SAFF president". República Sports. Nepal Republic Media. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Bangladesh to host inaugural SAFF club championship". Zeenews.india.com. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ "Salauddin laments India's lack of initiative towards SAFF Club Championship". Goal India. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "First ever South Asian Club Championship to be played in Sri Lanka". SouthAsiaFootball.com. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
- ^ "Ranjith Rodrigo appointed acting President of SAFF". dailynews.lk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Bangladesh to host SAFF Suzuki Cup". maldivessoccer.com. 25 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ "SAFF to hold biennial club tournament from 2018". Dawn. 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 10 December 2021.
External links[]
- South Asian Football Federation