KATHMANDU: The 13th SAFF Championship, the biggest football tournament of South Asian nations, is kicking off in the Maldives from Friday.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are meeting in the opening match to be held at the Male-based National Football Stadium while Nepal is to play against the host at 9:45 pm Nepal time today itself.

Five nations from the South Asia are competing for the title. Bhutan has already announced to stay away from the tournament due to COVID-19 risk while Pakistan is lately not participating in any international sports tournament due to internal issues.

The final match will be held on October 16. Nepali soccer team’s head coach Abdullah Almutairi said Nepal is committed to winning the title.

The Nepali team captained by Kiran Kumar Limbu comprises Deep Karki and Bishal Shrestha as goalkeepers, Bishal Rai, Suni Bal, Suraj Thakuri, Nitin Thapa, Pujan Uparkoti, Tej Tamang, Sujal Shrestha, Santosh Tamang, Aayush Ghalan and Kamal Thapa as midfielders while Nawayug Shrestha, Manish Dangi, Anjan Bista, Suman Lama and Aasish Lama area playing as forward. (RSS)