SAFF C’ship to be held in Bengaluru from June 21

KARACHI: India’s football governing body (AIFF) on Sunday confirmed that the SAFF Championship 2023 will be held in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 3, 2023.

This was announced by the AIFF chief Kalyan Chaubey.

This will be the fourth time that India will host the event. So far 12 editions have been conducted.

The AIFF website said that the event will see the teams divided into two groups and play round-robin matches in the group stage with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals. The date for the draw will be announced later.

"It is an extremely happy occasion for me to announce to all of you that we would be hosting the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru in June-July this year," Kalyan said.

Pakistan is also expected to feature in the event.

The FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee also held A meeting with the AIFF the other day on the sidelines of the FIFA Congress in Rwanda and both parties discussed various matters relating to the event, including India’s visas process which always remains an issue for Pakistan's teams.