Published on 12:00 AM, December 16, 2017

Teams turn up for SAFF

India team arrive in Dhaka for the SAFF Under-15 Women's Championship, which begins here tomorrow. Hosts Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives are the other teams in the competition. Photo: COLLECTED
Sports Reporter

All three participating teams -- India, Nepal and Bhutan -- arrived in Dhaka yesterday for the inaugural SAFF U-15 Women's Championship, which begins tomorrow at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium.

Soon after their flight landed, Bhutan held a one-hour practice session at the match venue while India and Nepal opted to rest at the hotel. Hosts Bangladesh also did not partake in practice yesterday.

On the opening day, India will play Bhutan at 11:30am before Bangladesh go up against Nepal in the second match of the day at 2:30pm.

After FIFA stepped forward to help regional football governing bodies arrange age-group tournaments, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) scrapped its U-14 Girls Regional Championships. And now the South Asian Football federation (SAFF), a regional football governing body, is holding the first U-15 Women's Championship to develop women's football in the country.

Bangladesh clinched back-to-back titles in the 2015-2016 AFC Girls' Regional (Central and South) Championships and so this time as well, the hosts will keep their eyes on the prize.

Top Stories