The Indian men’s football team was left without accommodation upon landing in Bangladesh for the SAFF Championship on Tuesday, with their first match scheduled for Thursday against arch-rivals Pakistan, according to a report in Sportstar.
With at least four international games on the schedule this month, India have opted to field a second-string team for the SAFF Championship, a tournament they have won a record nine times.
The first-choice team, meanwhile, is all set to travel to New Zealand for two friendlies.
But the SAFF Championship team, led by Under-23 head coach Naushad Moosa, was further weakened as multiple clubs refused to release key footballers for the opening game, which falls outside the FIFA international window.
15 of the 28 team
members trained in Kolkata on Monday, with three more joining the team before the contingent departed for Dhaka on Tuesday.
The team arrived in the Bangladesh capital at around 2:15 pm after a slight delay and was directed to a private hotel on Gulshan Avenue. But upon reaching the property, the contingent discovered that rooms hadn’t been booked for them.
As of 5 pm IST, the footballers were still without accommodation in the Bangladeshi capital.
“There have been other arrangements that are being made. We hope this will be sorted soon,” a source said while speaking to Sportstar.
India won the previous edition of the SAFF Championship, defeating Kuwait on penalties in Bengaluru. In the 2026 tournament, the defending champions have been drawn in Group B alongside Pakistan and the Maldives.
India will start their campaign against Pakistan at Dhaka’s National Stadium on Thursday, with kick-off scheduled for 3 pm IST.
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan make up the other group, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The tournament will conclude with the final on November 17.
