Bangladesh to host next SAFF

Bangladesh have been awarded the rights to host the 2017 SAFF Championship as well as the inaugural Club Cub Championship later this year.

The decisions were made at the executive committee meeting of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) in Trivandrum yesterday.

Maldives were the lone competitor against Bangladesh in bidding for the next edition of the SAFF Championship, scheduled to be held in December, after Bhutan had pulled out of their initial bid.

"Bangladesh and Maldives bid for hosting the 2017 SAFF Championship, and the executive committee meeting awarded Bangladesh the rights through discussion as well as based on the opinion of the sponsors (World Sports Group)," SAFF general secretary Anwarul Haq Helel told The Daily Star over phone from Trivandrum yesterday.

It will be the third time that Bangladesh will host the championship, after having hosted the showpiece event in 2003 and 2009. Bangladesh clinched the title in the 2003 edition but were eliminated from the semifinals of the 2009 edition.  

Helal, a former general secretary of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), informed that Bangladesh have also been proposed about hosting the inaugural edition of Club Cup Championship, which is expected to be held at the end of this year. There was no representative from Bangladesh present at the meeting.

“I did not think that the sponsors would agree to award it to Bangladesh. I agreed on principle to hosting the Club Cup Championship which was my dream as the SAFF president to introduce in this region like in Europe. However, they have finally agreed to hold the club championship. I will sit with the board (BFF executive committee) within the next 48 hours to take a final decision,” said BFF president Kazi Salahuddin, who is also the president of SAFF.

The SAFF Championship and Club Cup Championship will be held in every alternative year, said Salahuddin, who did not attend the meeting due to his engagement with this month's Bangabandhu Gold Cup.

Helal also informed that India were awarded the hosting rights for SAFF Women's Championship in August-September this year but they did not discuss the issue regarding whether Afghanistan, who have already joined Central Asian Football Association, will be allowed to take part in the next SAFF Championship.