SAFF Women’s Championship 2022 and the SAFF U17 Championship 2022

MEDIA RELEASE – SAFF

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) held a draw ceremony for the SAFF Women’s Championship 2022 and the SAFF U17 Championship 2022 at the BFF House, Dhaka, on Saturday.

SAFF General Secretary Mr Anwarul Huq and Bangladesh Football Federation General Secretary Mr Abu Nayeem Shohag conducted the draw amidst a program attended by journalists and officials of the participating member associations who were present online.  

The SAFF Women’s Championship which is scheduled to take place in Nepal from 6-19^th September has all seven member associations of the federation taking part in the competition, while the SAFF U17 Championship which will take place from 5-14^th September has six teams participating apart from Pakistan.

The seeding for the SAFF Women’s Championship was done on basis of the latest FIFA Women’s Ranking published on 17^th June which has India in the 56^th rank, followed by Nepal on 101, Bangladesh on 146, and Sri Lanka on 149, the Maldives on 153 and Bhutan on 172. Pakistan is without a ranking due to its absence from international football for more than two years.

The draw was done as per the mechanism mentioned below:

• Country Pots are decided in accordance with the current FIFA Ranking, except for the Host who will be considered along with the Top Seeded Team.
• The First Country Pot will contain the Host country and the Top Seeded Team.
• The Second Country Pot will contain the Second and Third Seeded Teams.
• The Third Country Pot will contain the Fourth and Fifth Seeded Teams.
• For the last Seeded Team, only a Ball will be drawn from the Group Pot to determine the allocation.

The SAFF Women’s Championship will have the total number of teams divided into two groups, with group ‘A’ having 4 teams and group ‘B’ having 3 teams. It shall have 12 matches, including 9 league matches, 2 semi-finals and 1 final.

Defending champion India, seeded in Group ‘A’, drew Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan, while host Nepal, seeded in Group B, drew Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Likewise, the seeding of the team for the SAFF U17 Championship was also done on the basis of the latest FIFA Men’s Ranking published on 23^rd June.

The draw was done as per the following procedure:

• Country Pots are decided in accordance with the current FIFA Ranking, except for the Host

who will be considered along with the Top Seeded Team.

• The First Country Pot will contain the Host country and the Top Seeded team.
• The Second Country Pot will contain the Second and Third Seeded Teams.
• The Third Country Pot will contain the Fourth and Fifth Seeded Teams.

The SAFF U17 Championship see a total of 9 matches, including 6 league matches, 2 semi-finals and 1 final.

Host team Sri Lanka, seeded in Group ‘A’, drew Maldives and Bangladesh, while Group ‘B’ seeded team India drew Nepal and Bhutan.