Sri Lanka’s absence in SAFF to be filled by teams from within or outside region

By Susil Premalal

Since Football Sri Lanka has been banned by FIFA, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Executive Committee is discussing the participation of another regional team or teams outside the region to fill the gap in the 2023 SAFF Football tournament.

The All India Football Federation and South Asian Football Federation have decided to hold the tournament from June 23 to July 3 in Bengaluru, India.

Since Sri Lanka is not included in this tournament, the number of participating countries will be reduced from seven to six.

SAFF says that India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan have confirmed their participation in the tournament.

At the SAFF Executive Committee meeting held on March 31 virtually, All India Football Federation's proposal to stage the SAFF Championship 2023 in Bengaluru was approved.

The Executive Committee also held discussions on inviting one or two teams from outside the SAFF region to participate in the SAFF 2023 to make the total number of participating teams to eight and make the event more competitive.