The inaugural day will feature only one match with Nepal taking on Bangladesh in the curtain raiser. Earlier, two matches were scheduled on the inaugural day with India taking on Pakistan in the kick off. India and Pakistan will meet on September 1 as per the revised schedule.[break]
In the tie-sheet draw held on July 30 in Kathmandu, host Nepal has been drawn alongside with five time champion India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in the group A while runner up Afghanistan was pitted against Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in group B. The top two teams of each group advance into next round after single round robin league.
Out of total 15 matches of the Championship, 10 matches will be played at the Dasharath Stadium and remaining five at the APF grounds, Halchowk. Nepal will play all group matches at the Dasharath Stadium while all three matches of the knockout stage -- two semifinals and a final will be played at the Dasharath Stadium.
Nepal will play its first and second match against Bangladesh and Pakistan at 18:30 NST under floodlights while third match against India on 15:30 in the daylight. Nepal will meet Pakistan on September 3 and India two days later.
The semifinals will be held on September 8 and 9. Earlier, both semifinals were scheduled for September 8.
SAFF Championship preponed