DESCRIPTION:
*     Previously known as South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup held in 1993 and South Asian Gold Cup 95 in 1995, the tournament was renamed as the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in 1997.
*     Seven teams will compete in this biennial men’s football championship and all matches will be played at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
*     This is the third time that Bangladesh will host this championship, the previous two times being 2003 and 2009.
*     Besides the host, India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would compete.
*     Teams would first play group league matches and the top two teams from each group would qualify for semifinals.
*     Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan have been placed in Group-A, while Group-B has been formed with India, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
*     Team India will fight to retain its position as the reigning champions.
*     India won the inaugural SAARC Gold Cup in 1993 and also the SAFF Championship in 1997.
*     DSPORT, a premium sports TV channel by Discovery Communications, will be the official broadcast partner for the SAFF Championship 2018.

SCHEDULE:
Sept 4: Nepal vs Pakistan and Bangladesh vs Bhutan
Sept 5: India vs Sri Lanka
Sept 6: Nepal vs Bhutan and Bangladesh vs Pakistan
Sept 7: Maldives vs Sri Lanka
Sept 8: Pakistan vs Bhutan and Bangladesh vs Nepal
Sept 9: India vs Maldives
Sept 12: Semifinals
Sept 15: FINAL