Bangladesh, India, Pakistan in same group 

Bangladesh were pitted against five-time defending champions India in Group A of the SAFF Women's Championship during a draw ceremony at the Bangladesh Football Federation headquarters in Motijheel on Saturday.

The other teams in the group are Maldives and Pakistan while Group B features four-time runners-up Nepal alongside Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

The seven-nation championship will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal from September 6-19 and will be held in league format, with nine league matches before two semifinals and a final.

India have won all five editions of the event, including the last edition in 2019 while Bangladesh's best performance was finishing runners-up in 2016.

Pakistan, reinstated as a member of FIFA after more than one-and-a-half year suspension, will participate in the event after having skipped the last two editions.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh were drawn alongside Sri Lanka and Maldives in Group A of the SAFF U-17 Championship (boys), the draw for which was also held during the same event.

Group B features India, Nepal and Bhutan, with the tournament scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka from September 5 to 14.

The championship will be held in league format before two semifinals and a final, with a total of nine matches.

The championship was previously held in u-15 and u-16 level, with the changes in age-level altered to align with AFC competitions.