New anthem fuels excitement for SAFF return

South Asia's biggest football tournament is returning to Bangladesh after an eight-year wait, and the countdown has officially begun with the launch of the ‘Tecno SAFF Championship 2026’ theme song. With just 19 days to go before kickoff, the official track and music video were unveiled on Thursday evening during a grand ceremony at the five-star Crowne Plaza Dhaka Airport hotel.

The six-nation tournament, last hosted in Dhaka in 2018, is now in its final stages of preparation. Organisers say the new anthem captures the deep passion, unity, and sporting spirit of South Asian football, setting a lively tone for the matches ahead.

Sajib Rashid, CEO of TSA Sports & Entertainment, explained the creative vision behind the release. 

"Basically, the director, Sakib Tonmoy, tried to make the video keeping two things in mind: football and celebration," he said. "Looking at the song, Sondhi also tried to bring out the pure passion of our football fans through the music. At the same time, as it is an international tournament, a mix of Bengali and English has been used. SAFF is not just about Bangladesh. We are the host country, but we have visiting nations as well, and the fans of this tournament are all over the world. Keeping that in mind, they created the song, and I am sure football fans everywhere will love it."

SAFF Head of Competition, Syed Asif Hossain, shared his high hopes for the upcoming tournament. "The 14 days of the competition will be like a festival every single day," he said.

The energetic track features lyrics by Rusho, with music and composition by Sanu Sondhi. Popular artists Shuvo and Dola provided the vocals, backed by a rap segment from Asif, while the dynamic music video was directed by Sakib Tonmoy.