SAFF Women’s Championship
The SAFF Women's Championship, also called the South Asian Football Federation Women's
Cup, is the main association football competition of the women's national football teams,
governed by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). All seven members are eligible to
participate in this tournament. Bangladesh made history when it won the SAFF Women’s
Championship for the first time, beating Nepal 1-0 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. The
maiden title for the Bengal Tigresses saw the team earn the status of a trailblazer in women’s
football in the country. Their captain Sabina Khatun won the Golden Boot and the Most
Valuable Award for eight goals in five games. Bangladesh women's team lifted the SAFF title
2022 by beating four-times finalist and hosts Nepal 3-1 in Kathmandu on September 19 last.
Each player got a cheque of Tk five lakh while each coach and other officials got Tk two lakh
each. Captain Sabina Khatun, head coach Golam Rabbani and other players handed over the
SAFF Trophy to the prime minister. The 2022 SAFF Women’s Championships will be the sixth
edition of the tournament. Nepal will be the host country of the tournament that will see national
women’s teams from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) associate countries. It begins
from 6 September 2022 onwards and will be played until 19 September 2022. For women’s
football enthusiasts, in particular, this is one of the major events of the year and one that will see
intense competition. It plays a key role in the brilliant quality of the national women’s teams in
South Asia. As aforementioned, the upcoming edition of the SAFF Women’s Championships
will be its sixth edition. The Blue Tigresses are also the highest-ranked team (58) at the
tournament. Other participants include Nepal (hosts), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives,
and Sri Lanka. The last edition saw Nepal meet India in the final where the result was 3-1 in the
favour of the latter. A total of seven teams are participating in SAFF Women’s Championship
2022. Apart from hosts Nepal and India, the other nations are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Bhutan and [Link] have been divided into two groups of four and three teams
respectively. Teams in each group will play each other once in a round-robin format. The top two
teams from each group will then advance into the knockouts stage. Those doubts have been
answered in this year’s SAFF Championship. 13 players who played that tournament in Bhutan,
were part of the SAFF Championship winning team in Kathmandu. They are, Rupna Chakma,
Akhi Khatun, Anai Mogini, Nilufa Yasmin Nila, Anuching Mogini, Maria Manda, Monika
Chakma, Tahura Khatun, Shamsunnahar, Sohagi Kisku, Rituporna Chakma, Sajeda Khatun and
Shamsunnahar Jr. Out of them, five started in the final for Bangladesh and five were on the
reserves bench. Shamsunnahar, after getting subbed on in the 10th minute, scored the opening
goal of the final. Goalkeeper Rupna made a number of crucial saves and Maria Manda and
Monika Chakma dictated the midfield. These young players, on the verge of 20, are already
among the best players in South Asia. They are being hailed by their countrymen, being regarded
as national heroes by some. But while celebrating their triumph, it’s important to think about the
arduous journey they endured to reach where they are right now. The likes of Maria and Rupna
have become household names overnight, but behind their success lies years of sacrifice made by
the players, their families and those involved with women’s football. However, the difference
between South Asian football and European or South American football is astronomical. Even
with such a talented group of young players, Bangladesh are years away from reaching that level.
Bangladesh are still a few sizable leaps away from being in Women’s World Cup contention. But
who knows, maybe after a couple of more ‘overnight successes’ in space of a few decades, the
unthinkable could become a reality. The likes of Sabina Khatun and Sanjida Akhter won’t be
with the team then, but their triumph in Kathmandu would be considered the triumph that set
everything in motion.
