SAFF Under-20 Women’s Championship to start in new format

The second edition of the Under-20 Women’s SAFF Championship will start tomorrow, Friday (July 11). Defending champion Bangladesh will take the field against Sri Lanka on the first day. The match starts at 3 pm. Both Bangladesh team coach Peter Butler and captain Afeeda Khandaker have expressed their hope of retaining the title. The coaches of the three participating teams Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have all respected Bangladesh. According to Sri Lankan coach Srinatha Kumara, the favorites and title contenders of this tournament are the representatives of the red-green. At one time, India and Nepal used to fight for supremacy in South Asian women’s football. Since India is not in this tournament, Bangladesh-Nepal will fight. This time the tournament will be in the round-robin league system. According to the new format, there is no final in the tournament. All teams will play two matches with everyone else. After six matches, those who will be at the top of the points will be the champions.