Ooredoo Maldives has been named the official title sponsor of the biggest football carnival of the South Asian region, the SAFF Championship 2021.

President of the Football Association of Maldives, Bassam Adeel Jaleel signed the agreement alongside Chief Commercial Officer of Ooredoo Maldives Hussain Niyaz during a ceremony held at the National Football Stadium on Monday.

The 13th SAFF Championship, officially named “Ooredoo SAFF Championship 2021” is scheduled from 1 - 16 October.

In an interview following the signing ceremony, FAM President Jaleel noted that Ooredoo has always been working closely with FAM and that the telecom giant has been providing support to the association for the progress of football in the Maldives.

Further speaking at the event, Niyaz noted that Ooredoo has always prioritized sports and that football is very popular among the Ooredoo group.

During the SAFF Championship 2018, Japan’s Suzuki Company was named the title sponsor of the championship.

The official campaign for the 13th SAFF Championship was launched on September 13. Maldives won its bids to host the 13th SAFF Championship, in early August.

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.