The President of Sri Lanka's football authority, Jaswar Umar, has stated that discussions have commenced to host the next SAFF Championship in Sri Lanka.
In a statement issued apologizing for the failure faced by Sri Lanka in the ongoing 15th SAFF Championship, Jaswar stated that efforts will be made to overcome the heartbreak encountered.
Jaswar stated that in the efforts undertaken to revive Sri Lankan football, work is underway to secure the opportunity to host the next SAFF Championship.
Jaswar, who also serves as the Chairman of SAFF's Competition Committee, stated that the next SAFF Championship is expected to be held in eight months.
"The next SAFF Championship is expected to be held within eight months. I am currently holding discussions to assess the extent of the opportunity to host the upcoming SAFF Championship in Sri Lanka. This is a very big opportunity for our national team, supporters, and the entire football family," Jaswar stated.
According to Jaswar, being eliminated from the tournament after losing 4-0 to Bangladesh was due to mistakes made by their own team.
However, he stated that the progress achieved by the entire team should not be overshadowed by the result of a single match. He noted that after remaining below 200 in the FIFA rankings for the past 15 years, Sri Lanka's ranking has moved up from 207 to 184.
"Over the past two years, our team has won 12 matches and drawn six matches. This defeat is yet another obstacle faced. However, this is not the end of our journey," Jaswar wrote.
Previously, Sri Lanka had received the opportunity to host this edition of the SAFF Championship. However, SAFF discussed holding the tournament on a home-and-away basis and revoked the hosting rights from Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, due to political rivalries existing in some countries of the region, making one country's team unwilling to travel to another country, and because organizational costs would be high, SAFF abandoned that idea.
It was decided once again to hold it in the format it has traditionally been held in. SAFF decided to host the tournament in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka last hosted the SAFF Championship in 2018 jointly with the Maldives.
