SAFF Championship 2026: India left without hotel rooms after arriving in Bangladesh for title defence

File Image: Naushad Moosa is in charge of India’s second-string squad for the SAFF Championship 2026. | Photo Credit: KR DEEPAK

The Indian men’s football team was in for a surprise when it travelled to Bangladesh for its SAFF Championship defence on November 3: the players had no rooms to stay, and their first match was scheduled in less than 48 hours.

With at least four international matches scheduled in November, India named a second-string squad for the SAFF Championship, a tournament it has won a record nine times. The first-choice squad is set to travel to New Zealand for two friendlies.

However, the SAFF Championship squad, under the under-23 head coach Naushad Moosa, was further depleted as most clubs refused to release key players for the opening match that falls outside the FIFA international window.

Fifteen out of the 28 members of the squad trained in Kolkata on November 2, while three more joined them before the contingent left for Dhaka on Tuesday.

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The team landed in the Bangladesh capital around 2:15 pm after a slight delay, and was given the address of a private hotel on Gulshan Avenue. But on reaching the property, the team got to know that rooms had not been allocated for them.

Until 5:00 pm IST, the players were yet to have rooms to stay in the capital of Bangladesh. “There have been other arrangements that are being made. We hope this will be sorted soon,” a source told this publication.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝-𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐅 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩? 🤔⚽ India 🆚 Pakistan on November 5 India 🆚 Maldives on November 11 India's campaign in the 2026 SAFF Championship comes amid a clash with the senior men's team's international commitments in November. With a young side set to take centre stage, can India successfully defend its title? 🏆 @Neeladri_27 breaks it down in this explainer 📹 #IndianFootball #SAFFChampionship

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) November 3, 2026

Sportstar has reached out to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) for a comment.

India won the last edition of the SAFF Championship, beating Kuwait on penalties in Bengaluru. In the 2026 edition, it is drawn in Group B, alongside Pakistan and Maldives. It will open its campaign against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Dhaka on November 5 at 3 pm IST.

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan will compete in the other group, with the top two teams from each group entering the semifinals. The final is scheduled for November 17.