Maldives national squad finalized for upcoming SAFF Championship 2021

The National Football Team squad for the upcoming SAFF Championship 2021 has been finalized.

The 13th SAFF Championship is slated from October 1 – 16.

Comprised of 29 players, Maldives National Football Team departed to Qatar on September 10, for its training camp ahead of the championship. The team is set to return to the Maldives on Monday morning. The national team began training for the championship on August 26, with a preliminary squad comprising of 34 players. Only 29 players had joined the Qatar camp although a team of 30 players were to camp in Qatar initially. The 30th player was compromised after Maziya Sports and Recreation’s goalkeeper Hussain Shareef sustained injuries.

The squad was finalized with the exclusion of five players from the training squad.

The final squad comprising of 24 members was announced by the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) on Sunday night.

The five members eliminated from the squad are three defenders; Ali Shamis, Ahmed Abdulla, Moosa Yameen, midfielder Asfad Habeeb and forward Hassan Nazeem.

During the Qatar camp, Maldives played two friendlies. The team won against Lusail SC 4 – 3 last Tuesday, and tied with Army National Team 1 – 1 during Saturday’s match.

Maldives was initially set to play three friendlies, however, due to visa issues the Sri Lankan team was unable to camp in Qatar.

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.

While the SAFF region comprises of seven countries, Bhutan had earlier withdrawn from competing in this championship due to Covid-19 concerns.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.

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.

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.