South Asian Football Federation

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

South Asian Football Federation
Bangladesh Anwarul Haq Helal
Parent organization
AFC
Websitesaffederation.org

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. In 2005, Afghanistan joined too, but later, left in 2015, to join then newly formed Central Asian Football Association.[1]

Presidents

President Years
India P. P. Lakshmanan 1997–2001[2][3]
Nepal Ganesh Thapa 2001–2009[4][3]
Bangladesh Kazi Salahuddin 2009–2016[5][3]
Sri Lanka Ranjith Rodrigo* 2016–2016
Bangladesh Kazi Salahuddin 2016–present[5][3]
*Due to health issues in 2016, Sri Lanka Ranjith Rodrigo replaced Salahuddin as acting president for two months.[6]

Member associations

FIFA Code Association Founded SAFF affiliation Top tier league (men's) Top tier league (women's) National team
BAN  Bangladesh 1972 1997 Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Women's Football League
BHU  Bhutan 1983 2000 Bhutan Premier League Women's National League
IND  India 1937 1997 Indian Super League Indian Women's League
    MDV  Maldives 1982 1997 Dhivehi Premier League
      NEP    Nepal 1951 1997 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League National Women's league
      PAK  Pakistan 1947 1997 Pakistan Premier League National Women Football Championship
      SRI  Sri Lanka 1939 1997 Sri Lanka Super League

      Former member

      Association SAFF membership duration Notes
       Afghanistan 2005–2015 Afghanistan joined SAFF in 2005, later left in 2015 to become a founding member of Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).

      Competitions

      The South Asian Football Federation runs several competitions on subcontinental level.

      National team

      Club

      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, are not altogether interested in participating.[8]

      Sri Lanka was supposed to host 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

      Competition Current Champions Details Runners-up Next
      National teams
      SAFF Championship 2023 India  Final  Kuwait 2025
      South Asian Games 2019 Nepal    Final  Bhutan 2024
      U-19 Championship 2023 India  Final  Pakistan 2024
      U-16 Championship 2023 India  Final  Bangladesh 2024
      Women's national teams
      SAFF Women's Championship 2022 Bangladesh  Final  Nepal 2024
      South Asian Games 2019 India  Final  Nepal 2024
      U-19 Women's Championship 2024 Bangladesh 
      India 
      Final No runners-up 2025
      U-16 Women's Championship 2024 Bangladesh  Final  India 2025
      Club teams
      SAFF Club Championship 2024 2025

      Titles by nation

      Nation National team (men's) National team (women's) Club Total
      SAFF SAG
      U18/U19/U20
      U15/U16/U17
      SAFF SAG
      U18/U19/U20
      U15/U16/U17
      SCC
       India 9 3 3 5 5 3 2 2 32
       Bangladesh 1 2 0 2 1 0 4 2 12
         Nepal 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 8
       Pakistan 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
       Maldives 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
       Sri Lanka 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
       Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Former member
       Afghanistan 1 0 0 0 0 1
      Invited guest
       Russia†† 1 1
      Kuwait Kuwait 0 0
      Lebanon Lebanon 0 0
      Total 14 13 5 8 6 3 6 7 61

      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

      Without Semifinal Losers

      RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
      1 India (IND)2510641
      2 Bangladesh (BAN)1012426
      3   Nepal (NEP)412824
      4 Maldives (MDV)2327
      5 Pakistan (PAK)1214
      6 Afghanistan (AFG)1203
      7 Sri Lanka (SRI)1102
      8 Russia (RUS)1001
      9 Kuwait (KUW)0101
      10 Bhutan (BHU)0033
      Totals (10 entries)454324112

      With Semifinal Losers

      RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
      1 India (IND)2510742
      2 Bangladesh (BAN)10121234
      3   Nepal (NEP)4121531
      4 Maldives (MDV)23813
      5 Pakistan (PAK)1258
      6 Afghanistan (AFG)1225
      7 Sri Lanka (SRI)1179
      8 Russia (RUS)1001
      9 Kuwait (KUW)0101
      10 Bhutan (BHU)0066
      11 Lebanon (LBN)0011
      Totals (11 entries)454363151

      SAFF teams at continental and global tournaments

      Legend
      •  1st  – Champion
      •  2nd  – Runner-up
      •  3rd  – Third place
      •  4th  – 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
      •  — Tournament was unavailable for the nation that year
      •     — 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
      FIFA World Cup record
      Team 1930
      Uruguay
      (13)
      1934
      Kingdom of Italy
      (16)
      1938
      French Third Republic
      (15)
      1950
      Fourth Brazilian Republic
      (13)
      1954
      Switzerland
      (16)
      1958
      Sweden
      (16)
      1962
      Chile
      (16)
      1966
      England
      (16)
      1970
      Mexico
      (16)
      1974
      West Germany
      (16)
      1978
      Argentina
      (16)
      1982
      Spain
      (24)
      1986
      Mexico
      (24)
      1990
      Italy
      (24)
      1994
      United States
      (24)
      1998
      France
      (32)
      2002
      Japan
      South Korea
      (32)
      2006
      Germany
      (32)
      2010
      South Africa
      (32)
      2014
      Brazil
      (32)
      2018
      Russia
      (32)
      2022
      Qatar
      (32)
      2026
      Canada
      Mexico
      United States
      (48)
      2030
      Morocco
      Portugal
      Spain
      Argentina
      Paraguay
      Uruguay
      (48)
      Years Attempts
       Bangladesh did not exist × × × TBD TBD 0 10
       Bhutan × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × TBD 0 3
       India did not exist •• × × × × × × × × TBD TBD 0 10
       Maldives did not exist × × × × × × × × TBD 0 8
         Nepal × × × × × × × × × × × × × × TBD TBD 0 8
       Pakistan did not exist × × × × × × × × × × × TBD TBD 0 8
       Sri Lanka did not exist × × × × × × × × × × TBD 0 9
      Former member
       Afghanistan Not member of FIFA Not a SAFF member Not a SAFF member 0 3
      AFC Asian Cup
      Team British Hong Kong
      1956
      (4)
      South Korea
      1960
      (4)
      Israel
      1964
      (4)
      Iran
      1968
      (5)
      Thailand
      1972
      (6)
      Iran
      1976
      (6)
      Kuwait
      1980
      (10)
      Singapore
      1984
      (10)
      Qatar
      1988
      (10)
      Japan
      1992
      (8)
      United Arab Emirates
      1996
      (12)
      Lebanon
      2000
      (12)
      China
      2004
      (16)
      Indonesia
      Malaysia
      Thailand
      Vietnam
      2007
      (16)
      Qatar
      2011
      (16)
      Australia
      2015
      (16)
      United Arab Emirates
      2019
      (24)
      Qatar
      2023
      (24)
      Saudi Arabia
      2027
      (24)
      Total
       Bangladesh Part of  Pakistan × × GS × TBD 1
       India × 2nd × × × GS GS GS GS TBD 5

      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.
      Nation India
      1951
      (6)
      Philippines
      1954
      (12)
      Japan
      1958
      (14)
      Indonesia
      1962
      (8)
      Thailand
      1966
      (11)
      Thailand
      1970
      (10)
      Iran
      1974
      (15)
      Thailand
      1978
      (14)
      India
      1982
      (16)
      South Korea
      1986
      (18)
      China
      1990
      (14)
      Japan
      1994
      (19)
      Thailand
      1998
      (23)
      South Korea
      2002
      (24)
      Qatar
      2006
      (28)
      China
      2010
      (24)
      South Korea
      2014
      (29)
      Indonesia
      2018
      (25)
      China
      2022
      (23)
      2026

      (TBA)
      Years
       Bangladesh did not exist 13th 12th 14th 13th DQ 20th 24th 24th 20th 15th 20th 10
       India 1st 8th 4th 1st 8th 3rd 13th 8th 6th 16th DQ DQ 16th 10th 14th 14th 26th 9th 16
       Maldives did not exist 20th 22nd 20th 17th 21st 5
         Nepal 16th 18th 18th 17th 29th 22nd 6
       Pakistan 6th 9th 11th 17th 14th 23rd 21st 22nd 24th 17th 10
      Former member
       Afghanistan Not a SAFF member 25th Not a SAFF member 1

      Women's

      AFC Women's Asian Cup
      Team Hong Kong
      1975
      (6)
      Taiwan
      1977
      (6)
      India
      1980
      (6)
      Hong Kong
      1981
      (8)
      Thailand
      1983
      (6)
      Hong Kong
      1986
      (7)
      Hong Kong
      1989
      (8)
      Japan
      1991
      (9)
      Malaysia
      1993
      (8)
      Malaysia
      1995
      (11)
      China
      1997
      (11)
      Philippines
      1999
      (15)
      Chinese Taipei
      2001
      (14)
      Thailand
      2003
      (14)
      Australia
      2006
      (9)
      Vietnam
      2008
      (8)
      China
      2010
      (8)
      Vietnam
      2014
      (8)
      Jordan
      2018
      (8)
      India
      2022
      (12)
      Australia
      2026
      (12)
      Uzbekistan
      2029
      (12)
      Total
       India × × 2nd 3rd 2nd × × × × GS GS GS GS GS ••[a] TBD TBD 9
       Nepal × × × × × GS GS × × × × GS × × × × × × × TBD TBD 3
      1. ^ India failed to name the required 13 players and were unable to play their match of the group stage against Chinese Taipei due to them having only fewer than 13 players left with the remaining team members testing positive for COVID-19. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them were considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.[14]


      Asian Games Women's football tournament

      Nation China
      1990
      (6)
      Japan
      1994
      (4)
      Thailand
      1998
      (8)
      South Korea
      2002
      (6)
      Qatar
      2006
      (8)
      China
      2010
      (7)
      South Korea
      2014
      (11)
      Indonesia
      2018
      (11)
      China
      2022
      (16)
      2026

      (TBA)
      Years
       Bangladesh 12th 1
       India 8th 9th 13th 3
       Maldives DQ 11th 10th 2
       Nepal 11th 1

      Junior

      Men's U-20

      AFC U-20 Asian Cup
      Nation Federation of Malaya
      1959
      Federation of Malaya
      1960
      Thailand
      1961
      Thailand
      1962
      Federation of Malaya
      1963
      South Vietnam
      1964
      Japan
      1965
      Philippines
      1966
      Thailand
      1967
      South Korea
      1968
      Thailand
      1969
      Philippines
      1970
      Japan
      1971
      Thailand
      1972
      Iran
      1973
      Thailand
      1974
      Kuwait
      1975
      Thailand
      1976
      Iran
      1977
      Bangladesh
      1978
      Thailand
      1980
      Thailand
      1982
       Bangladesh × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × GS × GS GS 5th ×
       India × × × × GS GS GS QF QF GS × × QF GS GS 1st GS GS QF GS
         Nepal × × × × × × × × × × × × GS GS × GS × × × ×
       Pakistan × × × GS × × × × × × × × × × GS × × × × × ×
       Sri Lanka 8th × GS × GS × × GS QF × GS GS × × × × × GS × GS × ×
      Nation United Arab Emirates
      1985
      Saudi Arabia
      1986
      Qatar
      1988
      Indonesia
      1990
      United Arab Emirates
      1992
      Indonesia
      1994
      South Korea
      1996
      Thailand
      1998
      Iran
      2000
      Qatar
      2002
      Malaysia
      2004
      India
      2006
      Saudi Arabia
      2008
      China
      2010
      United Arab Emirates
      2012
      Myanmar
      2014
      Bahrain
      2016
      Indonesia
      2018

      2023
      Total
       Bangladesh × × GS GS × 6
       India GS × GS GS × GS GS QF GS GS 22
         Nepal × × × GS × 4
       Pakistan × GS × × × × 3
       Sri Lanka × GS × × × × × × 10

      Men's U-17

      FIFA U-17 World Cup
      Team 1985
      China
      (16)
      1987
      Canada
      (16)
      1989
      Scotland
      (16)
      1991
      Italy
      (16)
      1993
      Japan
      (16)
      1995
      Ecuador
      (16)
      1997
      Egypt
      (16)
      1999
      New Zealand
      (16)
      2001
      Trinidad and Tobago
      (16)
      2003
      Finland
      (16)
      2005
      Peru
      (16)
      2007
      South Korea
      (24)
      2009
      Nigeria
      (24)
      2011
      Mexico
      (24)
      2013
      United Arab Emirates
      (24)
      2015
      Chile
      (24)
      2017
      India
      (24)
      2019
      Brazil
      (24)
      2023
      Indonesia
      (24)
      Total
       India R1 1
      AFC U-17 Asian Cup
      Nation
      1985

      1986

      1988

      1990

      1992

      1994

      1996

      1998

      2000

      2002

      2004

      2006

      2008

      2010

      2012

      2014

      2016

      2018

      2023
      Total
       Bangladesh × GS GS GS GS × GS GS DQ × 6
       India GS GS QF GS GS GS GS QF GS 9
         Nepal × × × GS × GS GS × 3
       Pakistan × × × × × × GS × × × 1

      Women's U-20

      AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup
      Team 2002
      India
      (12)
      2004
      China
      (15)
      2006
      Malaysia
      (8)
      2007
      China
      (8)
      2009
      China
      (8)
      2011
      Vietnam
      (6)
      2013
      China
      (6)
      2015
      China
      (8)
      2017
      China
      (8)
      2019
      Thailand
      (8)
      2024
      Uzbekistan
      (8)
      Total
       India GS QF GS 3
         Nepal GS 1

      Women's U-17

      FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
      Team New Zealand
      2008
      (16)
      Trinidad and Tobago
      2010
      (16)
      Azerbaijan
      2012
      (16)
      Costa Rica
      2014
      (16)
      Jordan
      2016
      (16)
      Uruguay
      2018
      (16)
      India
      2022
      (16)
      Dominican Republic
      2024
      (16)
      Total
       India GS 1
      AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup
      Team 2005
      South Korea
      (11)
      2007
      Malaysia
      (6)
      2009
      Thailand
      (8)
      2011
      China
      (6)
      2013
      China
      (12)
      2015
      China
      (8)
      2017
      Thailand
      (8)
      2019
      Thailand
      (8)
      2024
      Indonesia
      (8)
      Total
       Bangladesh GS × × × × GS GS 3
       India GS × 1

      Rankings

      Rankings are calculated by FIFA
      .

      Individual statistics

      Top goalscorer in men's football

      As of 10 November 2023
      Players in bold are active international players.

      Top goalscorer in women's football

      As of 20 August 2022
      Players in bold are active international players.

      See also

      References

      1. ^ "Afghanistan to play SAFF Championship for the last time in 2015". 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
      2. ^ "News for the month of March 1999". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
      3. ^ a b c d "About US". saffederation.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
      4. ^ "Ganesh Thapa no longer SAFF president". República Sports. Nepal Republic Media. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
      5. ^ a b "Salahuddin new SAFF president | the Daily Star". 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
      6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
      7. ^ "Bangladesh to host inaugural SAFF club championship". Zeenews.india.com. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
      8. ^ "Salauddin laments India's lack of initiative towards SAFF Club Championship". Goal India. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
      9. ^ "First ever South Asian Club Championship to be played in Sri Lanka". SouthAsiaFootball.com. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
      10. ^ "Ranjith Rodrigo appointed acting President of SAFF". dailynews.lk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
      11. ^ "Bangladesh to host SAFF Suzuki Cup". maldivessoccer.com. 25 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
      12. ^ "SAFF to hold biennial club tournament from 2018". Dawn. 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
      13. ^ Reporter, The Newspaper's Sports (7 May 2023). "SAFF announces start of club championship from next year". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
      14. ^ "Latest update on the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022". Asian Football Confederation. 23 January 2022. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
      15. ^ "The FIFA World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
      16. ^ "The FIFA World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

      External links