The SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship was originally scheduled to take place in Dhaka in February. However, the tournament has now been postponed. This is not just for the U-20 tournament; the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has suspended all its announced tournaments for 2025. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is altering the schedules for its various tournaments, which is why SAFF is revising the schedules for its own events.
SAFF General Secretary Anwarul Haq Helal told Prothom Alo, “The U-20 Women’s Championship was supposed to be held in February. SAFF has made this decision because of changes to the AFC calendar. We will restructure the schedule for all tournaments in 2025. We set SAFF’s schedule based on the AFC calendar.”
The U-20 Women’s Championship was scheduled to take place from February 12 to February 19 in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had planned to host the tournament at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. While the stadium’s renovation work was supposed to be completed this month, the floodlight installation has been delayed. There is uncertainty about whether the floodlights will be ready by February, and the BFF had requested the National Sports Council to complete the floodlights before February. However, with the tournament now postponed, there is no immediate urgency for that.
Anwarul Haq Helal mentioned that it’s unclear how long the U-20 Women’s Championship will be delayed, saying, “We will announce a new schedule in a few days. But it is almost certain that the U-20 Women’s Championship will not take place in February.”
Regarding the Bangabandhu Stadium, Helal clarified, “The work on the Bangabandhu Stadium is entirely the responsibility of the BFF. I have no comment on that. As for the U-20 tournament, where it will be held according to the new schedule is entirely up to the BFF. Once the new date is announced, they will make the decision accordingly.”
