SAFF U17, U20, and Women's championships draw held in Dhaka
The SAFF U17 Championship 2024, U20 Championship 2024, and Women's Championship draws were conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
The current winners, India were placed in Group A in the U17 event. Maldives and Bangladesh will accompany India in the group. Host nation Bhutan, along with Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were drawn in Group B. The U17 SAFF Championship is set to be played in Bhutan, starting September 18, 2024, and will go on until September 28, 2024.
Coming to the U20 Championship, defending champions India have been drawn alongside Maldives and Bhutan in Group B. Group A comprises hosts Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Kathmandu in Nepal will host the SAFF U20 Championship 2024. The tournament will be played from August 16 to 28, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Women's Championship 2024 draw resulted in the Indian Senior Women's National team being drawn with neighbors Bangladesh and Pakistan in Group A. Group B includes hosts Nepal along with Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan.
A total of seven teams - India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan will take part in the three competitions. All of these three competitions will be played in the same format as before.
The three championships will be played on the league and knockout basis. These seven teams will be split into two groups (four teams in one group and three in the other). Teams finishing in the top two positions from each group will go on to qualify for the semi-finals.
Speaking of the present champions, India came out victorious in both SAFF youth tournaments that were held in 2022 for the U17 and U20 age categories. India, however, lost to Nepal 1-0 in the semi-finals of the previous SAFF Women's Championship edition in 2022.
India will aim to defend their titles at the U17 and U20 championships respectively while the Women's team will be keen to go the distance this time around.
SAFF U17, U20, and Women's Championships dates and groups:
U17 Men's Championship 2024, Bhutan: September 18 to September 28, 2024.
Group A: India, Maldives, Bangladesh
Group B: Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
U20 Men's Championship 2024, Nepal: August 16 to August 28, 2024.
Group A: Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Group B: India, Maldives, Bhutan
Women's Championship 2024, Nepal: October 17 to October 30, 2024.
Group A: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan
Group B: Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan