Next year’s SAFF Championship to be played on home-and-away basis

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has announced that the SAFF Championship, which has been postponed to next year, will still be held using the home-and-away format.

After initially planning to hold this year's tournament in a home-and-away format, it was later decided to centralize it in Sri Lanka in June. However, it has now been postponed to next year.

In a statement released Thursday, SAFF said that they had originally planned to hold this year's tournament in the home-and-away format. The statement also mentioned that the postponement was necessary to allow more time for preparations required for this format.

The statement explained that the home-and-away format was chosen to promote football development in the region, and preparations for this format had already begun this year.

However, SAFF, its member countries, and marketing partner Sportfive of Germany concluded that it would be prudent to postpone the tournament to next year due to additional requirements for smooth execution.

The federation noted that since next year is a World Cup year, additional effort will be needed to find a suitable time slot for the SAFF Championship.

According to reports, marketing partner Sportfive preferred holding a centralized tournament in either India or Bangladesh to make it easier to secure sponsors. The influence of SAFF's marketing partners has always been significant in deciding the host country.

The cancellation of the SAFF Championship is disappointing for Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Federation had expressed great excitement about hosting the tournament, viewing it as an opportunity to revitalize football enthusiasm in their country.

Details are still awaited about the invitational tournament that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), SAFF, and the Sri Lankan Football Federation are planning to organize to fill the void. However, it is believed that this tournament will be held on the dates originally set for the SAFF Championship.

The SAFF Championship, which began in 1997 among regional countries, has always been a tournament prone to scheduling issues. As a result, sponsor interest in the tournament remains low.