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. Its founding members are Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Bhutan joined the federation in 2000 and Afghanistan in 2005.[1] In February 2015, captain Haroon Amiri announced that Afghanistan had officially left the SAFF for the new Central Asian Football Association.[2]

"SAFF" redirects here. For the football governing body of Saudi Arabia, see Saudi Arabian Football Federation.

South Asian Football Federation
SAFF Logo
SAFF members
MottoStrength in Unity
Formation1997 (1997)
TypeSports organization
HeadquartersNew Delhi, India
Region
India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka , Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan.
Membership
7 member associations
Official language
English
President
Kazi Salahuddin
Top Scorer
Sunil Chhetri
Parent organization
AFC

The current champions of SAFF are the Maldives after a 2–1 win over India at the 2018 SAFF Championship and in women football India is the present champion after a 3–1 victory over Nepal at the 2019 SAFF Women's Championship.

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 they left in 2015 to join the new CAFA.

Presidents
President Years
P. P. Lakshmanan1997 – 2001[3]
Ganesh Thapa 2001 – 2009[4]
Kazi Salahuddin 2009–present[5]

Because of health issues in 2016, Rodrigo Ranjith replaced Salahuddin as acting president for two months.[6] Salahuddin was voted to resume presidency in March 2016.[7]

Member associations
Country Year Association Member League (Men's) League (Women's)
 Bangladesh1997Bangladesh Football FederationFounding MemberBangladesh Premier LeagueBangladesh Women's League
 India1997All India Football FederationFounding MemberI-league, Indian Super LeagueIndian Women's League
 Maldives1997Football Association of MaldivesFounding MemberDhivehi Premier League
   Nepal1997All Nepal Football AssociationFounding MemberMartyr's Memorial A-Division League
 Pakistan1997Pakistan Football FederationFounding MemberPakistan Premier League
 Sri Lanka1997Football Federation of Sri LankaFounding MemberSri Lanka Football Premier League
 Bhutan2000Bhutan Football FederationExpansion 1Bhutan National League

Former members
Country Year Association
 Afghanistan
2005–2015Afghanistan 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.

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.[8] 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.[9]

Sri Lanka was supposed to host first edition in August 2014.[10] That however did not happen.

A new possible start was set for December 2016 but later announced that 2017 would see the first edition.[11][12] This again was changed and announced that 2018 would be the start of the tournament.[13]

Current title holders
Competitions Champions Title Runners-up Next edition
Men's National Teams
SAFF Championship  Maldives 2nd  India 2020
SAFF U-18 Championship  India 1st  Bangladesh 2021
SAFF U-15 Championship  India 3rd    Nepal 2020
South Asian Games Men    Nepal 4th  Bhutan 2021
Women's National Teams
SAFF Women's Championship  India 5th    Nepal 2021
SAFF U-18 Women's Championship  Bangladesh 1st    Nepal 2019
SAFF U-15 Women's Championship  India 1st  Bangladesh 2020
South Asian Games Women  India 3rd    Nepal 2021

Rankings

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.

Top goalscorer in men's football
As of 20 September 2019, the players with most goals scored in career from South Asia (SAFF) are:
Players in bold are active international players.

See also

References
  1. "Footballinternational.co.uk > Asian Zone > Central South Asian Zone > South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  2. "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.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Ganesh Thapa no longer SAFF president". República Sports. Nepal Republic Media. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "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.
  9. "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.
  10. "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.
  11. "Ranjith Rodrigo appointed acting President of SAFF". dailynews.lk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. "Bangladesh to host SAFF Suzuki Cup". maldivessoccer.com. 25 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  13. "SAFF to hold biennial club tournament from 2018". Dawn. 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. Inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked
  16. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
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