The 2025 SAFF U17 Men's Championship, which is kicking off today, has brought all seven active countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives—together, a rare sight in the recent events of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).

The previous edition of the U17 Men's Championship in 2024 in Bhutan also saw the participation of the seven nations. Similarly, the seven countries played in the sixth and seventh editions of the SAFF Women's Championship in Nepal in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

Except those, the last time the seven countries met together was in the 12th edition of the SAFF Men's Championship in Bangladesh in 2018. The biggest SAFF football tournament, the senior men's and women's events, saw the eight SAARC countries, including Afghanistan, participating across nine editions in total.

In the men's category, the eight nations were there during the fifth to tenth editions in between 2003 to 2013. In the women's, they all took part in the first three editions from 2010 to 2014. There were also seven participants in the fourth edition of the women's championship in India in 2016; Pakistan did not participate then. Pakistan, alongside Afghanistan, was also absent in the fifth edition in 2019.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan stopped participating in SAFF events after 2016. The country is also currently not recognised as an active member of the SAARC since the Taliban takeover.

"The governments of the respective countries also take decisions to either allow or disallow their team's participation in the international tournaments," Purushottam Kattel, general secretary at the SAFF, told the Post over phone. "So, we coordinate with them through the football associations of the member countries for participation.

"We always prioritise maximum participation in our events," Kattel added.

Kattel also argued that the SAFF feels successful when all seven active SAARC countries participate in an event. "It shows that, despite the differences, sport has the power to unite nations. It is the same case now," Kattel said as he was preparing to board the flight to Sri Lanka for the U17 tournament.

Regarding the SAFF Men's under-age championship—U15/U16/U17—there had been seven countries participating in the event only twice, the latest being in the U17 in 2024. The previous one was in the U16 category in 2013 in Nepal, when the Maldives did not participate out of the eight SAARC countries.

SAFF U17 in Sri Lanka

The seven participating countries in the 2025 SAFF U17 Men's Championship have been divided into two groups—one of three and one of four.

Group A has three teams—Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal—and Group B comprises India, Pakistan, Bhutan and the Maldives.

The teams will compete in a single round-robin format, and the top two teams from each group will enter the quarterfinals, where the group toppers will play the second-placed team from the opposite group.

Nepal will face the host, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh on September 15 and 18, respectively. All the games will be hosted by the Colombo-based Racecourse Ground.

"We got a short time for preparations for the tournament," Nepal's head coach Sanjeet Singh said in the pre-tournament conference on Sunday. "But the boys have worked hard and we are mentally and physically fit for this championship."

"Our preparation was good. We are focusing on the tactics of the coach," said Prashant Tamang, captain of the Nepali team. "There are also experienced players in our squad, and we can give a great fight to the teams in the tournament."