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. Afghanistan joined in 2005, but 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
    • W U17
      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
        • W U17

          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, were not altogether interested in participating.[8]

          Sri Lanka was supposed to host the 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. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
          16. ^ "The FIFA World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.

          External links