Changes have been made to the timing of Maldives' first match in the 13th SAFF Championship scheduled for October.

According to the schedule released by the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) initially in August, the match was scheduled for the evening of October 1. However, this has since been changed and the match will commence at 9pm.

Maldives will face Nepal in the first match of the tournament on October 1, before facing Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India respectively on October 7, 10 and 13. The top two finishers will play the final on October 16.

The first match of the tournament will be between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

This is the second amendment brought to the schedule. Initially, the championship was slated from October 1 – 13. Each team had two days to prepare, between each match.

The changes were made in accordance with the FIFA guidelines. With this being said, the championship will proceed until October 16.

According to the schedule, Maldives will play against Bangladesh at 9pm, October 7, Sri Lanka at 4om, October 10 and against India, at 9pm, October 13.

While the SAFF region comprises of seven countries, Bhutan had earlier withdrawn from competing in this championship due to Covid-19 concerns. Reports indicate that Bhutan still has a chance to take back its decision and rejoin the championship. Pakistan however, is unable to compete in the championship due to a FIFA suspension.

Maldives won its bids to host the 13th SAFF Championship, scheduled for this October, in early August.

Initially set to be held in Bangladesh during September 2020, the SAFF championship was delayed to be held this ongoing year, in the face of Covid-19 threats.

Comprised of 30 players, Maldives National Football Team departed to Qatar on Friday, for its training camp ahead of the championship. The team will return to Maldives after concluding the training camp, on September 28. The national team began training for the championship on August 26, with a preliminary squad comprising of 34 players.

This is the second time Maldives will be hosting the highly-anticipated SAFF Championship. The first time was in 2008, where co-hosted with Sri Lanka. That time Maldives brought home the championship for the first time. The last SAFF championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018 where Maldives and India made it to the finals. Maldives took home the championship that year as well.