2024 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship explained

The 2024 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship was the fifth edition of the SAFF U-18/19/20 Women's Championship, an international football competition for women's under–19 national teams organized by SAFF. The tournament was held from 2 to 8 February 2024 in Bangladesh.^{[2] [3]} Bangladesh and India are the joint champion, both teams have finished 1–1 goals in the regulations time and 11–11 goals by penalties shoot-out in the final of the tournament on 8 February 2024.^[4]

Host selection

At the SAFF Executive Committee meeting, held on 25 December 2023 in the Dhaka, Bangladesh SAFF announced the name of Bangladesh host country of the tournament.^[2]

Venue

All matches will be played at the BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Dhaka
BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium
Capacity: 25,000

Participating nations

The following four nations will participate in the tournament.

Team			Best placement in the tournament
	5th	2023	Champions (2018, 2021, 2023)
	4th	2023	Fourth-place (2018, 2023)
	5th	2023	Champions (2022)
	5th	2023	Runners-up (2018)

Players eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2005 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team has to register a squad of minimum 16 players and maximum 23 players, minimum two of whom must be goalkeepers.

Match officials

Referees

• Jaya Chakma
• Kanika Barman
• Tshering Yangkhey
• Anjana Rai
• Y.A. Pabasara Minisaraniyapa

Assistant referees

• Salma Akter Moni
• Prem Kumari Sunwar
• Ri-iohlang Dhar
• Radhika Shakya
• H.M. Malika Madhushani

Round robin

Single round-robin, each team will play each other. The top teams contest in the final.

TiebreakersTeams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

Standings

Matches

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Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Statistics

Hat-trick

Player	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Pooja		10–0		[6]
Sibani Devi		10–0

Controversy

The match was drawn after regulation time and penalty shoot-out and according to the by-laws sudden death was to be followed to decide the champion. However, Sri Lankan match commissioner D. Silva Jayasuriya Dilan decided to toss the coin to decide the champion and after the toss, the Indian women's team was declared champion. Being frustrated by this incident, Bangladeshi fans started throwing bottles on the ground.^[7] But soon, realising her mistake, the match commissioner again decided to continue the sudden death to decide the winner. However, the Indian players refused to participate and left the field, though Bangladeshi players remained on the ground. Finally, after five hours of internal talks and negotiations, both the teams were declared joint-champion.^{[8] [9] [10]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: ফাইনালের ১০ দিন পর সাগরিকা জানলেন সেরা খেলোয়াড় হয়েছেন তিনি. 18 February 2024. bn. www.kalerkantho.com. 18 February 2024.
2. News: SAFF to announced 2024 tournament calendar. 8 December 2023. South Asian Football Federation. 20 December 2023.
3. Web site: SAFF U-19 Women's Championship 2024 fixtures revealed. khelnow.com. 16 December 2023.
4. News: Bangladesh and India declared joint champions. 8 February 2024. www.thedailystar.net. 9 February 2024.
5. Web site: ফাইনালের ১০ দিন পর সাগরিকা জানলেন সেরা খেলোয়াড় হয়েছেন তিনি. 18 February 2024. bn. www.kalerkantho.com. 18 February 2024.
6. News: India toy with Bhutan in SAFF U19 Championship opener. 2 February 2024. www.the-aiff.com. 3 February 2024.
7. News: প্রতিবেদক . ক্রীড়া . ৫ ঘণ্টার নাটক আর বিতর্কের পর যুগ্ম চ্যাম্পিয়ন বাংলাদেশ-ভারত . 9 February 2024 . Prothomalo . 9 February 2024 . bn.
8. News: ইকবাল . নাইর . টাইব্রেকারে সমতার পর টস—ফুটবল কি এর আগে দেখেছে এমন ঘটনা . 9 February 2024 . Prothomalo . 9 February 2024 . bn.
9. News: SAFF Women’s U-19 C’ships: India declared joint winners with Bangladesh after initially winning via coin toss . 9 February 2024 . Sportstar . 8 February 2024 . en.
10. News: Controversy over coin toss as winner of Bangladesh-India SAFF U-19 final still undecided . 9 February 2024 . The Business Standard . 8 February 2024 . en.