SAFF C'ship in June?

The eleventh edition of the SAFF Championship is likely to be brought forward by five months to June, informed a high official of the South Asian Football Federation yesterday.
The championship involving South Asian nations is scheduled to be held in December in India, but the hosts are now thinking of holding the regional extravaganza in June due to the hosts' commitment to the Indian Super League in December, said SAFF's new general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal. He took over the charges on February 1 after FIFA imposed a ban on former general secretary Alberto Colaco of India. Helal however said that nothing had been finalised yet.
The SAFF official is also awaiting a decision on Afghanistan whether to include or exclude defending the champions, who recently left the South Asian region to join Central Asia. The decision may come after a meeting between SAFF and BFF president Kazi Salahuddin and AFC president Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
If the SAFF Championship takes place in June, then the Bangladesh Premier League is set to suffer because the footballing season here has not started yet to accommodate the just-concluded Bangabandhu Gold Cup.