Buru Sports captain Ali Hamdhaan has been given the opportunity to play in the Maldives national squad for the SAFF Championship in November.

This is the first time he has been chosen for the senior national squad. Prior to this, he was included in the U23 national team in 2019. And before that, he was the captain of the U19 team.

The squad formed by national team coach István Urbányi for the SAFF Championship has players that have never been chosen for the squad before. A player who was not chosen for the matches played last month and early this month but was chosen for the current squad include Victory captain Naiz Hassan (Dhaadhu).

At the time, Urbányi said Hassan was unable to play the matches against China, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon due to some family issues.

Ethan Ibrahim Zaki, New Radiant's young attacker, was not included in the squad for those three matches. According to Urbányi, this was because he had school examinations, but he has been given an opportunity in the squad for the SAFF Championship.

A player who was not included in the squad back then due to injury but has been chosen for the SAFF Championship squad include Victory's top goalkeeper Mohamed Shafeeu (Cech). 

The other notable player who was given a slot in the national team includes New Radiant's Mohamed Naim. This is the first time he has been chosen for the national squad during Urbányi's time. Naim has been chosen for the squad previously under other coaches.

Even though Victory forward Ahmed Rizuvan (Rizey) has played well in the league and scored goals, he was not included in the national lineup.

The training camp for the national team in preparation for the SAFF Championship will be held in Indonesia, and the national team left for Indonesia today. The squad has 24 players, with all of them except for one player having left with the team.

The player who did not leave with the team today is Odi Sports defender Ahmed Aiham (Aihu).

Sources state that his wife gave birth to their second child today. He will be reconnecting with the team on Wednesday.

The SAFF Championship will be held in Bangladesh from 4th November to 17th November. Maldives is in Group B, along with previous champions India and Pakistan.