2026 SAFF Club Championship


2026 SAFF Club Championship will be the inaugural edition of the SAFF Club Championship, an international men's club football championship of South Asian countries organised by the South Asian Football Federation. It was stalled for over a decade due to lack of sponsors.

Format

Initially, a centralized venue was planned for the tournament. Eventually, a home-and-away format was finalized as the AIFF expressed reservations over allotting two weeks during the regular Indian football calendar. It was planned to be held in 2024, but postponed to 2026.

Association team allocation

A total of 8 teams from 7 SAFF member associations are set to participate in the 2026 SAFF Club Championship. The association ranking based on the AFC member assosciation coefficient rankings is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association. This will include two teams from India and one team from Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Teams

The following teams will participate in the tournament:
TeamQualifying method
2025–26 Indian Super League runners-up
2025–26 Indian Super League third place
2025–26 Bangladesh Premier League champions
Paro2025 Bhutan Premier League champions
Maziya2025–26 Dhivehi Premier League champions
2025–26 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League champions
2025–26 Pakistan Premier League champions
2025–26 Sri Lanka Super League champions

Bracket

The matches will be played in home and away knockout format.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final