Maldives has been announced as the host for the 13th edition of the SAFF Championship.

The Executive Committee of SAFF has decided to hold the competition during October 2021.

Even though Bangladesh was set to host the championship earlier this year, they backed out due to the worsening situation of Covid-19 in the country. Following this, Maldives and Nepal submitted bids to host the championship this year.

So far five countries are confirmed to be competing in the championship this year. They are; Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Nepal. Bhutan is yet to confirm whether they will make an appearance or not, and has been given just three days to finalize and confirm their decision.

This is the second time the SAFF Championship is being hosted in the Maldives. In 2008, the country hosted the championship along with Sri Lanka. While Maldives won the championship in 2008, the second time the countr7 lifted the trophy was in 2018 when Bangladesh hosted the tournament.