Bangladesh Football Federation president Tabith Awal said Bangladesh is confident of hosting the 2026 SAFF Championship, insisting the country is both organisationally ready and ambitious in its plans to spread the tournament beyond the capital.
Speaking to reporters at the BFF House on Monday afternoon, Awal addressed speculation that Bangladesh is leading the race to stage South Asian football’s flagship event for the first time since 2018. He said the federation’s belief is rooted in recent progress on and off the pitch.
“We are prepared for SAFF,” Awal said. “We strongly believe that for the first time, in SAFF Futsal, both the men’s and women’s tournaments, we have the ability to become champions.”
Awal confirmed that discussions are also progressing around the men’s SAFF Championship, with Bangladesh expecting to host if remaining details are resolved. While the official competition window is still under consideration, he stressed that the federation’s vision goes beyond Dhaka alone.
“If everything goes well, Bangladesh will host the men’s SAFF football tournament,” he said. “If we host SAFF, we will have our own vision. We want to spread the game across Bangladesh.”
According to Awal, the BFF wants to stage the tournament across at least three venues, including two outside the capital, to give the event a truly national footprint. “We want to use at least three venues, with Dhaka included and two outside Dhaka,” he said. “Then I believe SAFF will be truly grand and we can show, as hosts, that we are capable of organising a good tournament.”
Questions have been raised about India’s participation in the tournament amid broader political sensitivities, but Awal was emphatic that football should not be influenced by such considerations.
“I do not think we should bring any other considerations into football,” he said. “Our neighbouring country played here in November. We also travelled in March to play. Football runs on football, and footballers think only about football.”
Awal’s comments underline the position of the BFF’s current leadership, which has consistently argued that regional competition should remain separate from politics.
He also spoke about Bangladesh’s upcoming international commitments, confirming that the federation is trying to arrange one or two friendly matches during the March FIFA window. “We are trying to play one or two friendly matches in the March window,” he said, adding that an invitation from Maldives in June remains under consideration.
The final AFC qualifying match against Singapore was highlighted as a priority fixture, though Awal said decisions on venue and squad selection are still pending. “We have not finalised whether it will be home or away yet,” he said.
Recent additions to the national setup, including Hamza Choudhury and Canada-based midfielder Shamit Shome, have helped reignite supporter interest, with Awal hopeful that fuller stadiums will follow. If Bangladesh does secure the right to host the 2026 SAFF Championship, the tournament could become a defining moment in the federation’s push to showcase a renewed era for football in the country.
