SAFF Championship kicks off in Dhaka tomorrow, Walton Fan named 'powered by' sponsor

The SAFF Football Championship returns to Bangladesh after eight years. The 15th SAFF Football Championship 2026, featuring six countries, begins on Thursday (5 November) at the National Stadium in Dhaka, with Walton Fan as the tournament's 'powered by sponsor'. The South Asian showpiece ends with the final on 17 November.

In this edition, Bangladesh face Sri Lanka and Bhutan in Group A, while Group B contains India, the Maldives and Pakistan. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, both of which will be played on 14 November.

On the opening day, India meet Pakistan at 3:30pm, and Bangladesh begin their campaign against Bhutan at 8pm the same evening. The hosts then face Sri Lanka in the group stage at 8pm on 11 November.

Walton Fan joins the championship as sponsor amid high expectations among football fans for the home team. The company's involvement continues its support for Bangladesh's men's and women's national teams and other international fixtures.

Walton has long been associated with football events in the country. It was co-sponsor of the 2025 women's tri-nation football tournament, and 'Walton BLDC Fan' was co-sponsor of the Bangladesh–Singapore match in the 2025–26 Asian Cup qualifiers.

'Walton Fan' was associate sponsor of the Bangladesh–India match on 18 November 2025, and was also a co-sponsor of the Bangladesh–Hong Kong match played in Hong Kong on 9 October the same year.

Walton's support for women's football also goes back years. It sponsored the Bangladesh team at the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship in India, providing funds for the team's sports equipment, and later helped supply kit for the women's team's Singapore tour and the under-16 women's team's China tour.

Walton has also celebrated the teams' successes: it jointly hosted a reception with BFF for the Bangladesh team that finished runners-up at the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship, and honoured the runners-up of the 2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship as well.