South Asian Football Federation Explained

South Asian Football Federation
Size:	200px
Map:	SAFF.PNG
Mcaption:	Location of members in Asia
Abbreviation:	SAFF
Type:	Sports organization
Headquarters:	Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Region Served:	South Asia
Membership:	7 member associations
Leader Title:	President
Leader Name:	Kazi Salahuddin
Leader Title2:	General Secretary
Leader Name2:	Anwarul Haq Helal
Language:	English
Parent Organization:	AFC

South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia which is a regional subsidiary of Asian Football Confederation, incorporated in 1997. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

History

The SAFF was founded in 1997, with Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In 2000, they expanded to 7 members, adding Bhutan. Afghanistan joined in 2005, but left in 2015, to join then newly formed Central Asian Football Association.^[1]

Presidents

President	Years
P. P. Lakshmanan	1997–2001^[2] ^[3]
Ganesh Thapa	2001–2009^[4]
Kazi Salahuddin	2009–2016^[5]
Ranjith Rodrigo (acting)	2016^[6]
Kazi Salahuddin	2016–present

Member associations

style=max-width:4em	FIFA Code	style=max-width:4em	Association	style=max-width:4em	Founded	style=max-width:4em	SAFF affiliation	style=max-width:4em	Top tier league (men's)	style=max-width:4em	Top tier league (women's)	style=max-width:4em	National team
BAN		1972	1997
BHU		1983	2000
IND		1937	1997
MDV		1982	1997
NEP		1951	1997
PAK		1947	1997
SRI		1939	1997

Former member

Competitions

See also: List of association football competitions and FIFA International Match Calendar. The South Asian Football Federation runs several competitions on subcontinental level.

National team

Men's

• SAFF Championship
• South Asian Games Men's football tournament
• SAFF U-20 Championship
• SAFF U-17 Championship

Women's

• SAFF Women's Championship
• South Asian Games Women's football tournament
• SAFF U-20 Women's Championship
• SAFF U-17 Women's Championship

Club

• SAFF Club Championship

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] 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, were not altogether interested in participating.^[8]

Sri Lanka was supposed to host the first edition in August 2014.^[9]

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.

The 2024 SAFF Club Championship will be the inaugural edition of the SAFF Club Championship, the biennial international men's club football championship of South Asia organised by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).^[13]

Current title holders

See also: FIFA International Match Calendar.

Competition		Current	Champions	Details	Runners-up		Next
National teams
SAFF Championship		2023		Final			2025
South Asian Games		2019		Final			2025
U-20 Championship		2024		Final			2025
U-17 Championship		2024		Final			2025
Women's national teams
SAFF Women's Championship		2024		Final			2026
South Asian Games		2019		Final			2025
U-19 Women's Championship		2024		Final	No runners-up		2025
U-16 Women's Championship		2024		Final			2025

Titles by nation

Nation	National team				Women's national team				Total
	SAFF	SAG	U18/U19/U20	U15/U16/U17	SAFF	SAG	U18/U19/U20	U15/U16/U17
	9	3	3	6	5	3	2	2	33
	1	2	1	2	2	0	4	2	14
	0	4	2	0	0	0	0	2	8
	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	5
	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	0	0	0	0	0	–	0	0	0
Former member
†	1	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	1
Invited guest
††	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	1
Kuwait	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Lebanon	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
Total	14	13	6	9	7	3	6	7	65

Note: (†) Member from 2005 till 2015, (††) The Russian Under-17 team was invited to the Under-17 tournament

Medals (1993-2024)

Last Update: 2024 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship (Total: 44 Editions)

Exclude Football at the South Asian Games and SAFF Club Championship.

1. SAFF Championship (1993-2023) - 14 Editions
2. SAFF Women's Championship (2010-2022) - 6 Editions
3. SAFF U-20 Championship (2015-2023) - 5 Editions
4. SAFF U-20 Women's Championship (2018-2024) - 5 Editions
5. SAFF U-17 Championship (2011-2023) - 8 Editions
6. SAFF U-17 Women's Championship (2017-2023) - 6 Editions

• Note: and shared gold in 2024 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship.

SAFF teams at continental and global tournaments

Legend

• – Champion
• – Runner-up
• – Third place
• – Fourth place
• QF – Quarterfinals
• R16 – Round of 16
• GS – Group stage
• 1S – First knockout stage
• — Did not qualify
• — Qualified but withdrew
• — Did not enter / withdrawn / banned / disqualified
  •  — Hosts

For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Senior

Men's

FIFA World Cup

See main article: National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup.

See also: Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup.

FIFA World Cup record
Team	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)	2026 (48)	2030 (48)	Years	Attempts
	Did not exist											×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	11
	Did not exist																×	×	×	×	•	•	•	TBD	0	3
				••	‡	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	11
	Did not exist													×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	8
	Did not exist									×	×	×	•	•	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	9
	Did not exist			×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	9
	Did not exist			‡	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	0	9
Former member
				Not a SAFF member	•	•	•					0	3

AFC Asian Cup

Team	1956 (4)	1960 (4)	1964 (4)	1968 (5)	1972 (6)	1976 (6)	1980 (10)	1984 (10)	1988 (10)	1992 (8)	1996 (12)	2000 (12)	2004 (16)	2007 (16)	2011 (16)	2015 (16)	2019 (24)	2023 (24)	2027 (24)	Total
					×	×	GS	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	TBD	1
	×	•	2nd	•	×	×	×	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS	GS	TBD	5

AFC Challenge Cup

Teams	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014
	QF	•	GS	•	•	2
	GS	•	•	•	•	1
	QF	1st	GS	GS	•	4
	‡	‡	•	GS	3rd	2
	SF	GS	•	GS	•	3
	GS	•	•	•	•	1
	2nd	GS	GS	•	•	3
Former member
	GS	GS	×	•	4th	3

AFC Solidarity Cup

Asian Games men's football tournament

Football at the Asian Games was a senior tournament until 1998.

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.

width=200	Nation	1951 (6)	1954 (12)	1958 (14)	1962 (8)	1966 (11)	1970 (10)	1974 (15)	1978 (14)	1982 (16)	1986 (18)	1990 (14)	1994 (19)	1998 (23)	2002 (24)	2006 (28)	2010 (24)	2014 (29)	2018 (25)	2022 (23)	2026 (TBA)	Years
	Did not exist							13th	12th	14th	13th		DQ	20th	24th	24th	20th	15th	20th		10
	1st	8th	4th	bgcolor=gold	1st	8th	3rd	13th	8th	6th	16th	DQ	DQ	16th	10th	14th	14th	26th		9th		16
	Did not exist												20th	22nd	20th	17th	21st				5
									16th	18th		18th	17th				29th	22nd			6
		6th	9th				11th			17th	14th			23rd	21st	22nd	24th	17th			10
Former member
	Not a SAFF member			25th				1

Women's

AFC Women's Asian Cup

width=150	Team	1975 (6)	1977 (6)	1980 (6)	1981 (8)	1983 (6)	1986 (7)	1989 (8)	1991 (9)	1993 (8)	1995 (11)	1997 (11)	1999 (15)	2001 (14)	2003 (14)	2006 (9)	2008 (8)	2010 (8)	2014 (8)	2018 (8)	2022 (12)	2026 (12)	2029 (12)	Total
	×	×	2nd	3rd	bgcolor=Silver	2nd	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	•	•	•	•	•	••	TBD	TBD	9
	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	×	×	×	×	GS	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	TBD	TBD	3

Asian Games Women's football tournament

width=170	Nation	1990 (6)	1994 (4)	1998 (8)	2002 (6)	2006 (8)	2010 (7)	2014 (11)	2018 (11)	2022 (16)	2026 (TBA)	Years
									12th		1
			8th				9th		13th		3
					DQ		11th	10th			2
									11th		1

Junior

Men's U-20

AFC U-20 Asian Cup

Nation																				1978	1980	1982
	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	×	GS	GS	5th	×
	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	QF	QF	GS	×	×	QF	GS	GS	bgcolor=gold	1st	GS	GS	QF	GS	•	•
	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	×	GS	×	×	×	×	•	•
	×	×	×	GS	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	×	×	×	×	×	×	•
	8th	×	GS	×	GS	×	×	GS	QF	×	GS	GS	×	×	×	×	×	GS	×	GS	×	×

Nation																				2025	Total
	•	×	•	•	•	×	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	6
	•	GS	×	GS	GS	×	GS	GS	•	QF	GS	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	22
	×	•	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	4
	•	•	•	•	•	×	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	×	×	×	×	×	3
	×	GS	×	•	×	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	×	•	×	×	•	•	•	•	10

Men's U-17

AFC U-17 Asian Cup

Nation																					Total
	×	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	GS	×	GS	GS	DQ	•	•	×	•	•	•	•	6
	•	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	QF	GS	•	GS	•	GS	•	GS	QF	GS	•	9
	•	×	•	•	•	×	×	•	GS	×	•	GS	•	•	•	GS	×	•	•	•	3
	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	•	•	GS	×	•	•	•	•	•	×	×	•	×	1

Women's U-20

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

Team	2002 (12)	2004 (15)	2006 (8)	2007 (8)	2009 (8)	2011 (6)	2013 (6)	2015 (8)	2017 (8)	2019 (8)	2024 (8)	Total
	GS	QF	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3
	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1

Women's U-17

AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup

Team	2005 (11)	2007 (6)	2009 (8)	2011 (6)	2013 (12)	2015 (8)	2017 (8)	2019 (8)	2024 (8)	Total
	GS	×	×	×	×	•	GS	GS	•	3
	GS	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1

Rankings

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.

Men's national teams

SAFF	AFC	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−	Highest	Lowest
1	23	127		1133.62		94	173
2	32	162		1001.39		124	183
3	35	175		939.2		124	196
4	37	183		904.1		159	209
5	39	185		898.81		110	197
6	44	197		842.59		141	205
7	45	200		820.32		122	207

• Last updated: 28 November 2024^[14]

Leading men's team:

ImageSize = width:200 height:700PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:5 top:10DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2025ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy

Colors = id:IND value:blue id:MAD value:white id:BHU value:yellow id:NEP value:red id:AFG value:green

PlotData= bar:Leaders width:20 mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S from:01/01/1992 till:01/06/2004 shift:(20,-3) text:"India" color:IND from:01/06/2004 till:01/09/2004 shift:(20,-12) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/09/2004 till:01/11/2004 shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:IND from:01/11/2004 till:01/12/2004 shift:(20,-4) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/12/2004 till:01/07/2006 shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:IND from:01/07/2006 till:01/10/2006 shift:(20,-11) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/10/2006 till:01/11/2006 shift:(20,-8) text:"India" color:IND from:01/11/2006 till:01/12/2006 shift:(20,-3) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/12/2006 till:01/03/2007 shift:(20,0) text:"India" color:IND from:01/03/2007 till:01/08/2007 shift:(20,-3) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/08/2007 till:01/08/2009 shift:(20,-12) text:"India" color:IND from:01/08/2009 till:01/09/2009 shift:(20,-4) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/09/2009 till:01/09/2010 shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:IND from:01/09/2010 till:01/10/2010 shift:(20,-11) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/10/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(20,-8) text:"India" color:IND from:01/07/2011 till:01/08/2012 shift:(20,-3) text:"Nepal" color:NEP from:01/08/2012 till:01/03/2013 shift:(20,-4) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/03/2013 till:01/02/2014 shift:(20,-11) text:"Afghanistan" color:AFG from:01/02/2014 till:01/06/2014 shift:(20,-8) text:"India" color:IND from:01/06/2014 till:01/06/2015 shift:(20,-4) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:01/06/2015 till:02/07/2015 shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:IND from:02/07/2015 till:02/06/2016 shift:(20,-4) text:"Maldives" color:MAD from:02/06/2016 till:end shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:IND

Women's national teams

SAFF	AFC	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−	Highest	Lowest
1	13	67		1389.02		49	67
2	19	98		1208.42		91	119
3	30	140		1068.16		100	147
4	32	157		955.21		101	157
5	33	158		949.54		106	161
6	35	161		938.55		91	162
7	38	173		853.48		113	178

• Last updated: 14 June 2024 ^[15]

Leading women's team:

ImageSize = width:200 height:400PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:5 top:10DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/06/2003 till:31/01/2025ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2004TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy

Colors = id:India value:blue

PlotData= bar:Leaders width:20 mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S from:01/06/2003 till:end shift:(20,-4) text:"India" color:India

Individual statistics

Top goalscorer in men's football

By number of goals

	Name	Career	Goals	Caps	Avg/Game
1		2005–2024	94	151
2		2003–2023	58	98
3		1992–2004	29	70
4		2000–2009	27	55
		1995–2011		82
6		2009–2019	23	54
	Shabbir Ali	1974–1984		66

By country

	Name	Career	Goals	Caps	Avg/Game
1		2005–2024	94	151
2		2003–2023	58	98
3		2000–2009	27	55
4		1975–1985	17	50
5		2002–2010	13	21
		1995–2006	13	39
	Anjan Bista	2014–Present	13	60
6	Chencho Gyeltshen	2011–present	13	44
7		2000–2009	11	37

Players in bold are active international players.

Top goalscorer in women's football

By number of goals

	Name	Career	Goals	Caps	Avg/Game
1	Sabitra Bhandari	2014–present	53	46
2	Bala Devi	2007–2024	49	59
3	Sasmita Malik	2007–2017	40	38
4	Sabina Khatun	2009–present	34	53
5	Yumnam Kamala Devi	2011–2022	33	51

By country

	Name	Career	Goals	Caps	Avg/Game
1	Sabitra Bhandari	2014–present	53	46
2	Bala Devi	2007–2024	49	59
3	Sabina Khatun	2009–present	34	53

Players in bold are active international players.

See also

• FIFA
  • Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
    • ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
    • East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
    • Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
    • West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)

External links

• South Asian Football Federation Cup at RSSSF
• South Asia Football – SAFF website (archived)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Afghanistan to play SAFF Championship for the last time in 2015. 26 February 2014. 10 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150509181237/http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2696/indian-national-team/2015/02/26/9256272/afghanistan-to-play-saff-championship-for-the-last-time-in. 9 May 2015. live.
2. Web site: News for the month of March 1999 . 28 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160307150157/http://www.indianfootball.de/news/m199903.html . 7 March 2016 . live .
3. Web site: About US . 2023-09-30 . saffederation.org . 18 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230518192918/https://saffederation.org/about-us . live .
4. Web site: Ganesh Thapa no longer SAFF president . República Sports . Nepal Republic Media . 2009 . 16 January 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100205082427/http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=10404 . 5 February 2010. dead .
5. Web site: Salahuddin new SAFF president | the Daily Star . 3 October 2009 . 28 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222304/http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-108196 . 3 March 2016 . live .
6. Web site: Archived copy . 28 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306090454/http://dailysports.lk/rodrigo-replaces-salahuddin-as-acting-president-of-saff/ . 6 March 2016 . live .
7. Web site: Bangladesh to host inaugural SAFF club championship . Zeenews.india.com . 18 April 2011 . 4 August 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120927062036/http://zeenews.india.com/news/sports/bangladesh-to-host-inaugural-saff-club-championship_700817.html . 27 September 2012 . live .
8. Web site: Salauddin laments India's lack of initiative towards SAFF Club Championship . Goal India . 30 July 2013 . 14 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180527203057/http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/136/india/2013/07/30/4152626/salauddin-laments-indias-lack-of-initiative-towards-saff?ICID=OP . 27 May 2018 . live .
9. Web site: First ever South Asian Club Championship to be played in Sri Lanka . SouthAsiaFootball.com . 13 March 2014 . 13 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140313212702/http://southasiafootball.com/first-ever-south-asian-club-championship-to-be-played-in-sri-lanka/ . 13 March 2014 . dead .
10. Web site: Ranjith Rodrigo appointed acting President of SAFF. dailynews.lk. 4 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170818090316/http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016%2F01%2F06%2Fsports%2Franjith-rodrigo-appointed-acting-president-saff. 18 August 2017. live.
11. News: Bangladesh to host SAFF Suzuki Cup. 25 August 2016. maldivessoccer.com. 25 August 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826040428/http://www.maldivesoccer.com/s/Bangladesh-to-host-SAFF-Suzuki-Cup-6221. 26 August 2016.
12. News: SAFF to hold biennial club tournament from 2018. 9 October 2016. Dawn. 6 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161008150212/http://www.dawn.com/news/1288438. 8 October 2016. live.
13. Web site: Reporter . The Newspaper's Sports . 2023-05-07 . SAFF announces start of club championship from next year . 2023-09-08 . DAWN.COM . en . 24 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230524070252/https://www.dawn.com/news/1751320 . live .
14. Web site: The FIFA World Ranking (Men). FIFA. 28 November 2024. 28 November 2024.
15. Web site: The FIFA World Ranking (Women). FIFA. 14 June 2024. 14 June 2024.