It will be a tough task for the women's football team to maintain their superiority in the South Asian Football Federation's (SAFF) Women's Championship in 2024, which is scheduled to start on October-November.
Bangladesh clinched the title for the first time in the tournament, beating hosts Nepal by 3-1 goals in the final at Dasharath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu, on September 19, 2022.
The five-time champions, India, will try their level best to win the tournament this year.
On the other hand, Sabina and Co. have a target to become champions for the second consecutive time.
The venues of the tournament have not been confirmed by the SAFF authorities until now. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan applied for hosting the mega event. The tournament would probably be held in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) could not confirm to the SAFF the venues where the matches would be held. The football governing body is worried about the venues of the SAFF women's championship.
Bangabandhu National Football Stadium (BNS), the main venue for football, has not played a single match for two and a half years. The last match was held at this ground on September 20, 2021. Dhaka Abahani and Bashundhara Kings played in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) football match on the day.
The International Friendly match against Nepal was held on March 27 and 29 of the year at the venue. The renovation work at BNS is yet to be completed, so there is no chance to arrange SAFF Women Football Championship matches at this venue.
Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Kamalapur, is not ready for the SAFF Championship. The SAFF authorities expressed their negative approach to the BFF for this venue.
BFF thinks Sylhet Stadium is for the women's SAFF Championship. But the sponsor did not agree to run the tournament in Sylhet Stadium. Now the BFF has two options: they have to arrange the SAFF Championship at BNS or Bashundhara Kings Arena Stadium in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of SAFF, Anwarul Haque Helal, said, “The venues are yet to be finalized. The marketing agent will fix the venues. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan expect to host the tournament. Bangladesh expressed interest in hosting, but the BFF hasn’t fixed the venues till now. We will want to know the venues in the three countries. After that, the decision will be taken. If the BNS is fit for the tournament by then, then the BFF will become host for the women's SAFF Football Championship. Kamalapur or Sylhet Stadium are out of the tournament.”
BFF General Secretary Imran Hossain Tushar said, “We want to host the SAFF Championship, but we could not announce the venues. The federation could not fix the venues. We will try to host the tournament at BNS. We sent the letters to the National Sports Council (NSC) to arrange the tournament. We will talk to the high officials of the Sports Ministry and the NSC.”
