Thursday, August 31 2006 14:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Sri Lanka and the Maldives will jointly host the next South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in October 2007.

The opening ceremony will be held in Male, the capital of the Maldives, while the final and closing ceremony will be staged in Colombo, the SAFF executive committee decides at its meeting in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday (30 Aug, 2006).

The meeting also decides the SAFF Club Football Championship will be held every alternate year from 2007 and will be contested by top clubs of the eight member countries in the region.

The SAFF Under-17 Women's Football Championship will be held in India in February next year and regional age-group tournaments (Under-12, -14 and -16) will also be started.

The SAFF General Congress will be held in Male next March and a permanent SAFF office is to be set up in New Delhi, subject to written consent from the All India Football Federation (AIFF).