SAFF Championship 2021 Preview: Schedule, Timings in IST, Live Streaming & Other Details You Need to Know About the Football Tournament in Maldives
Finally, the wait is over and all Indian football fans are gearing up for the SAFF Championship 2021 starting from October 1, 2021. In this article, we shall bring to you the schedule, live streaming, timings in IST and other details for the football tournament which is to be hosted in the Maldives. But before that, let's bring to you the preview of the tournament and also the news from the Blue Tigers' camp.
Finally, the wait is over and all Indian football fans are gearing up for the SAFF Championship 2021 starting from October 1, 2021. In this article, we shall bring to you the schedule, live streaming, timings in IST and other details for the football tournament which is to be hosted in the Maldives. But before that, let's bring to you the preview of the tournament and also the news from the Blue Tigers' camp. The tournament is played every two years. The football Championship was supposed to be held in September last year. But owing to the COVID-19, the tournament got cancelled. FIFA Suspends Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) With Immediate Effect.
Pakistan and Bhutan were supposed to be a part of the tournament. However, both nations are not participating in the SAFF Championship 2021. With Pakistan Cricket Board, being sanctioned by FIFA in April 2021, the team is ineligible to play the tournament. With Bhutan, the government did not permit the citizens to travel abroad. Now, this leaves us with only five participants this year- Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Talking about India, the Blue Tigers have a few absentees including Sandesh Jhingan. Also, Amrinder Singh will not join the camp after testing Covid-19 positive. Akash Mishra, Bipin Singh and Pronay Halder failed to make it to Igor Stimac's squad. Here's the is schedule for the tournament below:
SAFF Championship 2021 Schedule:
| Date | Fixture | Time (IST) |
| October 1 | Nepal vs Maldives | 16:30 |
| October 1 | Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh | 21:30 |
| October 4 | Bangladesh vs India | 16:30 |
| October 4 | Sri Lanka vs Nepal | 21:30 |
| October 7 | India vs Sri Lanka | 16:30 |
| October 7 | Maldives vs Bangladesh | 21:30 |
| October 10 | Maldives vs Sri Lanka | 16:30 |
| October 10 | Nepal vs India | 21:30 |
| October 13 | Bangladesh vs Nepal | 16:30 |
| October 13 | India vs Maldives | 21:30 |
| October 16 | Finals | 21.30 |
Indian Squad:
This was the squad announced by the Indian coach a few days ago.
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh, Dheeraj Singh and Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose and Mandar Rao Dessai.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco and Yasir Mohammad.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri and Farukh Choudhary.
Live Streaming Details:
As far as the SAFF Championship 2021 is concerned, there are no official broadcasters for the event. You can watch the event on the official Youtube channel of SAFF. Stay tuned to this space for all updates of the game.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2021 01:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).