Women’s SAFF Club Championship to begin from this year

The executive committee of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), chaired by Kazi Md Salahuddin, approved its annual calendar in a meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal on Wednesday where they decided to start the Women's Club Championship this year.  

The SAFF will host club competitions for both men and women footballers but they will start it with women’s club competition this year while men’s club competition will start in 2026.

Also, the men’s club competition is an annual event but the women’s club competition is a biennial event.

A total of eight teams from the South Asian region -- two clubs from the higher-ranked country and one club each from other countries -- will take part in the home and away-based format of Women’s Club Championship.

“Today, we approved the calendar of 2025. We included the Women's Club Championship this year. A total of eight clubs will compete here,” SAFF general secretary Anwarul Huq Helal told the reporter after the meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting also decided to arrange the upcoming SAFF Championship 2025, which will be held from 15 June to 25 July, in a home and away-based format instead of a centralized venue.

“We initially decided to arrange it (SAFF 2025) in a home and away-based format instead of a centralized venue. But we will sit again with the general secretaries of all member federations this month. If they give any objection, we will change the plan and confirm a neutral centralized venue,” he further added.