THE SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 will be finally held in Maldives, with just 5 teams participating. The regional football extravaganza has turned into a five-team competition after Bhutan failed to get permission from their government while Pakistan are banned by FIFA from taking part in any international tournament.

The fixtures of the SAFF Championship released on Wednesday shows that Nepal will kick off the tournament against hosts the Maldives, on October 1, at the National Football Stadium in the capital, Male.

The tournament, originally supposed to take place in Dhaka in 2020, has been repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Asian Football Federation explored multiple venues - including other cities in Bangladesh as well as a move to Nepal - before picking Maldives as the best possible candidate for hosting the matches.

Maldives are currently hosting another international event - the Group D matches of AFC Cup 2021. Since they already have the COVID-safety infrastructure in place, hosting another tournament will be relatively easy for them.

The full fixtures of SAFF Championship 2021 are as follows;

1st October

Nepal vs Maldives

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh

3rd October

Bangladesh vs India

Sri Lanka vs Nepal

6th October

India vs Sri Lanka

Maldives vs Bangladesh

8th October

Maldives vs Sri Lanka

Nepal vs India

11th October

Bangladesh vs Nepal

India vs Maldives

The final will take place on 13th October, kicking off at 8:00 pm