Bangladesh to face Sri Lanka in opener of SAFF championship
Pakistan however, is unable to compete in the championship due to a FIFA suspension.
Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in one of the opening matches of the SAFF Championship scheduled to be held from October 1-13 in Male' City of the Maldives.
The South Asian Football Federation finalized the fixture of the tournament with Nepal playing against host Maldives in the inaugural match of the fixture on the same day.
Bangladesh will play their second match against mighty Indian on October 3, meet host Maldives on October 6 before playing against Nepal on October 11. All the matches will be held at the National Football Stadium.
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This edition will see the participation of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and host Maldives. The teams will play each other in a single leg round-robin format with the top two teams progressing to the final.
Pakistan however, is unable to compete in the championship due to a FIFA suspension.
This is the second time Maldives will be hosting the SAFF Championship after 2008 co-hosted with Sri Lanka. The Maldives won the title beating India by 1-0 goal in the final.
The last SAFF championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018 where Maldives and India made it to the final. The Maldives also won the SAFF title that year beating India by 2-1 goals.
