Forget the SAF Games!
(April 11,  2004) 

The SAF Games was a disaster for Nepal. So what does it prove? In my eyes, absolutely nothing! All the SAF Games told us were things we already know - like the fact that we have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of Asia. It has nothing to do with long train rides, Nepali coaches, humid climate, etc. 

Trying to draw conclusions from the SAF Games is like analyzing a loss by Bayern Munich, in a postseason tour, to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars after they just finished winning the European Championship - pointless. 

Let's face the facts - the SAF Games is irrelevant. It has always been heavily skewed towards the home team, shady dealings is common place,  now that it is an under 23 tournament half the sides use overage players. The list goes on and on. So calm down everyone and worry about more important things. Nepal's football development depends on domestic football and that is what we need to focus on. We need to refine our youth academies, build our football infrastructure and strengthen the Martyrs League setup. Only after doing all of that  should we go nuts when our national teams perform poorly.

Monthly mag long overdue
(March 6,  2004) 

The monthly football magazine ANFA plans to launch, though long overdue, is a great initiative, but could they have picked a name blander than Football Monthly? Hopefully the “Monthly” portion of the title will put some pressure on the editors to live up to the name of the rag.

Now that football fans have a magazine, let’s hope there will be enough content to put in it.  The current trend in Nepali football suggests there probably will be, but our football officials have stood us up too many times before. Football fans in Nepal are at a point where they will only believe it when they see it.

Lack of players overseas troubling
(February 22,  2004) 

The Himalayan Times the other day had a short blurb mentioning that Nepal’s talented young goalkeeper Bikash Malla had returned from Bangladesh for his holidays. The peculiar thing about the news was that the Bangladeshi league and Malla’s team Mohammedan Sporting were still playing matches when he left. Without all the facts there is no need to speculate on this specific situation, but if we look at the broader picture the fact that Nepali players have failed to garner contracts overseas, especially in India and Bangladesh is troubling.

While some Bangladeshi clubs like Brothers Union have recently hired some Gurkhalis to fill their ranks, for the most part Nepali footballers are being shutout by the South Asian leagues. No conspiracy theories needed, our players have simply failed to leave their mark abroad and are being passed over for third rate Brazilian and second rate African talent.

Are Nepali players simply not good enough? Perhaps, but undoubtedly the lack of pressure and competition domestically has diluted the skill level and professionalism of our players, thus they have a hard time adjusting to the foreign leagues.

Sahara Club a role model
(February 8,  2004) 

Sahara Club needs to be complimented for their organization of the Aaha Gold Cup. Throngs of spectators showed-up for the tournament in Pokhara that featured some of Nepal’s top sides, a couple Indian outfits and of course the hometown favorites Sahara Club. The competition proved that there is a great thirst for football across Nepal and not just in the capital. In fact, Kathmandu has been so saturated with tournaments much of the excitement for football in the Valley has dried up. 

Sahara Club, with their football academy, gym, commitment to professionalizing players, as well as their work in the community is a great model for other clubs. It would wise for ANFA to include such a club in their Martyr’s League setup or a future National League, with Sahara Club playing its home matches at Pokhara stadium. It is time to expand league football to every corner of the country and include clubs from all of Nepal’s largest cities – especially those as well run as Sahara Club.

Nepal's top division sure to improve
(January 23,  2004) 

Kudos to ANFA for doing a great job hosting the Martyr's League 'B' division. Usually just hosting this tournament is a massive feat, but ANFA went one step further by making sure it was held in a round-robin format thus making it a true "league" system and allowing the cream to rise to the top.

Brigade Boys Club and Mahavir Club are not only well financed sides with a good following, but also have a great pedigree - Mahavir being one of the original two football clubs of Nepal. Both these club will not just be there to makeup the numbers in the 'A' division, championships are definitely on the agenda. As a result the entire 'A' division is sure to improve with far more competitive matches on a regular basis. The next edition of the Martyr's League is sure to be the most exciting one ever.

Municipality football hits the jackpot!
(January 23,  2004) 

Finally!!!!!! ANFA took the first steps to something they should have done years ago by starting an inter-municipality football tournament. As webmaster has stated in the past, Nepal's football needs to be inclusive of the entire nation and not just the capital. You also need teams that play in and with names that represent their local communities. The Birendra Inter Municipality Football Tournament is a great beginning on these fronts.

Interest in football will boom once you develop rivalries between the various cities of Nepal. Just imagine how intense a Pokhara - Kathmandu, Butwal - Bhairawa or  Dharan - Biratnagar rivalry would be. Far more appealing than a rivalry between two Kathmandu valley clubs called Boys Sports and Boys Union for sure! 

The next step ANFA needs to take is to privatize these municipality teams and then incorporate them into a proper national league with existing 'A' division clubs and departmental sides.

And you wonder why
(December 21,  2003) 

Unfortunately the bizarre events of the other day when a journalist was intimidated by ANFA officials was not out of the ordinary. Bossism, thuggary, intimidation - or whatever you want to call it, is a large part of Nepali football. That is why very few decent people hold any football aspirations in Nepal, be it with the playing, management, or administrative aspect of the sport. The sad truth is there are people who profit so much from football that they are willing to spill blood to retain their power, money and influence. If one steps in their way they are subject to the wrath of Nepal's football mafia.

And you wonder why so few people want to invest in Nepali football, or why there are hardly any objective articles about the problems with football in Nepal. Even well wishers of the game are looked upon as a threat by the football powers - the more they do, the worst the top brass will look, thus even constructive endeavors are quickly shot down by way of bully tactics.

It's hard to imagine things changing in the near future, and as long as they remain the same, so will the state of Nepali football.

MMC needs to participate in Asia
(December 14,  2003) 

Webmaster was very disappointed to see that Manang Marsyangdi Club was not listed for any of the AFC club competitions when the draws were announced this past week. Luckily, he has been informed that Nepali clubs are only eligible for the AFC President's Cup, a club competition for the have-nots of Asian Football, whose draw has yet to be finalized.

It's not a given that MMC will participate in the tournament as Nepali teams have usually shied away from Asian competitions. In this case it would be a real pity as MMC without a doubt has been Nepal's top football club for the last decade. Even though they, like all other clubs in Nepal lack proper training facilities, they do have the financial backing to participate and even succeed in Asia. Asian tournaments would provide a great opportunity for the club to market themselves, give their players international experience and finally give Nepali football fans something to get excited about.

In the past participating in Asia was a futile exercise, as a club would only get to play two games and a massive spanking by an East Asian power would usually be awaiting the Nepali side. Now however, with the advent of the Champions League, AFC Cup and the AFC President's Cup, a Nepali club would play teams of the same level and multiple matches.

Instead of holding meaningless and low standard tournaments like the ongoing Martyrs Invitational, which absolutely no one cares about, in the future ANFA would be well advised to use the money to help clubs like MMC, and this year possibly even MPC, participate in the AFC President's Cup.

East Bengal or bust!
(December 10,  2003) 

There used to be a day when any Indian outfit would draw massive crowds at a Nepali stadium near you. Fortunately, this is no longer the case and ANFA, as well as all the football tournament committees across Nepal need to stop inviting third class Indian clubs here. It is a massive waste of time and money and always leads to some sort of fiasco with a lot of backroom shenanigans.  

Nepali football fans are much smarter than before. With the proliferation of satellite television and the advent of the Indian National Football League, football fans can’t be deceived any longer – they full well know who are the contenders and who are the pretenders of Indian football. Inviting Bhaichung Bhutia’s East Bengal side is one thing, but no one could careless about Kolkata Rickshaw Drivers Football Club led by Dvarakanatha Chakrabati descending on the Himalayan Kingdom. ANFA would be well advised to invest the money they spend on bringing shoddy Indian clubs on our own struggling teams.

ANFA still does not get it!
(December 02,  2003) 

After a few forward thinking decisions by ANFA it was “back to mangalman” for the powers that be at Sadobato. Once again Nepal’s football authorities have shown their naivety with two silly decisions with regards to the Martyrs Memorial Invitational tournament. 

The first mistake was to allow Nepali clubs to borrow players from other clubs to compete against the visiting Indian sides. What does this accomplish and how does this move Nepali football forward? ANFA needs to encourage a proper transfer market system and Nepali clubs need to improve themselves on a long term basis. These types of quick-fixes does no one any good and  makes a mockery of the tournament. 

Secondly, the decision to have the Under 20 team participate in the tournament is extremely short sighted and flat out wrong. As we have seen before, warm-up matches like these do not help our youngsters. They need to play in a situation similar to the one they will be facing in Dhaka at the Asian U20 qualifiers – a humid climate, against youth national teams from South Asia in a hostile environment.

As Nepal will be facing Pakistan and Bangladesh in Dhaka, Nepal should have scheduled friendlies against the Under 20 teams of India, Sri Lanka or Maldives in a Terai city like Biratnagar or possibly even away in Calcutta or Colombo if the budget permits. The advantage of playing in places like Calcutta would include dozens of Indian clubs being able to scout young and talented Nepali players. But that’s a whole different story for next time.

ANFA General Assembly a success
(November 10,  2003) 

Usually, an ANFA meeting is nothing more than exercise in petty politics, deceit and corruption. Thus it was refreshing to see an open and constructive ANFA General Assembly.

This was probably one of the most productive and insightful Nepali football gathering in ages. Most of the elections went smoothly, a football calendar was released, the annual ANFA budget was made public and ANFA took decisive action on the three players that disgraced our nation. Even though Nepali football is near its lowest point, the ANFA General Assembly at least gave football junkies in Nepal a glimpse into the future and some much needed hope.

Ban international tournaments!
(September 29,  2003) 

Enough is enough! Nepal needs to ban itself from all international competitions for the next 4 years! All of  ANFA's resources needs to be allocated to domestic football - a proper national league and a youth development system. 

Nepal has no business disgracing itself overseas when domestic football is also a disaster. Until Nepali players are paid well and receive a proper diet of football, training wise and by way of a proper league, the pathetic results we saw in South Korea, both on and of the field, will continue.

More new blood and Nirajan needed
(September 22,  2003) 

It is refreshing to see younger faces such as Ujwal Manandhar, Ritesh Thapa, Sagar Thapa and Jibesh Pandey make the national team roster for the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers. Though political interference in team selection has subsided in the football circles recently, there continues to be a “buddy” system where certain players who show “loyalty” are chosen ahead of more deserving candidates. 

While it is always sad to witness the career of a longtime veteran wane, it is just as exciting to see new blood given an opportunity. The selectors should be applauded for replacing old hats like Rajan Rayamajhi, Anil Adhikari and Dev Narayan Chaudhary, but questions still arise as to why the likes of Sunil Tuladhar and Bal Gopal Maharjan continue to be selected when they have shown very little, if anything, in recent tournaments to merit a spot on the national team. 

On a side note, ANFA has to do all it can to make sure it sends its strongest squad to the Asian Cup qualifiers. That means Nirajan Rayamajhi, currently playing with 4th division German side SC Union Hamburg, needs to be given the resources to join the team in Korea and Oman. ANFA will have to fly its players to the destinations anyway, so how much more will a plane ticket from Germany  to those locations cost? The tickets might actually be cheaper from Germany than from Nepal!

"C" division concept correct
(September 2,  2003) 

ANFA did a great service for Nepali football by allowing all clubs access to the Martyr's League "C" division. There are many people throughout Nepal who have long dreamed of starting a football club, but ambiguity in Nepal's league setup has usually been a roadblock for them to do so. In the past, one needed lots of connections to be invited to participate in the "C" division, but now everyone can participate.

ANFA also had the right idea by putting clubs in qualifying groups to weed-out all the weaker sides and thus facilitating a more comprehensive league competition with the best 22 football clubs. For once, Nepal's premier club competition seems to be headed on the right track.

Time for MMC to take the next step
(August 8,  2003) 

Over the past few years MMC has made a phenomenal run in Nepali club competitions. Backed by rich benefactors they have been able to build a very strong squad littered with Nepali internationals. Now it is time for MMC to take the next step as it prepares for the Asian Champions League.

Despite their on the field success, MMC off-the-field is no different than any other Nepali football club. They do not have their own training facility and they lack an organized supporters group, marketing department, club office and they have no immediate plans to strengthen themselves by bringing in foreign talent. With some of Nepal's most prominent businessmen on their board, MMC clearly has the resources to change all this around and they need to do so immediately. MMC has a great opportunity to become a role model for all Nepali football clubs and they should not let this opportunity slip.

Media gets it right!
(July 23,  2003) 

I have long held the belief that part of Nepal's lack of sporting prowess was due to the ineptitude of Nepal's media. A few years back I wrote an article about it titled, "Blame it on the media!" Recently however, the media has made great strides in covering Nepali sports and credit has to be given where credit is due.

While the sports media still has a long way to go in Nepal, including the need to take on the fat cats that run or probably better put - "mismanage" Nepal's sporting sector, they do need to be commended for their coverage of the Martyr's League and other significant sporting events like the youth cricket tournament Nepal is currently participating in. 

In the dark days of sports coverage, a simple article would be all a sports fan could expect from the Nepali press, and even then the articles would be infrequent and it would be hard to follow any sporting event. Today however, most media outlets give daily coverage that includes standings, photographs and statistics - a far cry from before. The better coverage will lead to more interest in Nepali sports and also more sponsorship. In the end it is the media itself that will reap the rewards of their fine work.

Look to Asia as a stepping stone
(July 16,  2003) 

News that Nirajan Rayamajhi, Nepal's player of the moment, is trying to move to Germany to play for a lower division side caught many football fans by surprise. While there was unanimous enthusiasm towards the possible move, very few Nepali players, including Rayamajhi himself,  have made an impact recently in the bigger leagues in our own subcontinent and it is thus hard to see someone being able to cut it with a German football club, no matter what division they play in.

Nepali footballers need to look to the Indian, Bangladeshi and possibly even some of the ASEAN leagues as a stepping stone before having any grandiose plans of conquering Europe. Currently, due to ANFA interference and the lack of a proper transfer system, very few Asian clubs are willing to take a chance on Nepali talent, and in turn Nepali players have not had a long enough spell abroad to prove themselves. As with most things in the world of Nepali football, the onus is on ANFA to make the necessary reforms to help Nepali players land gigs with better Asian sides.

Credibility of club football at record low
(July 7,  2003) 

The Martyr’s League has been beset by many officiating controversies and as the end of the League approaches several match fixing scandals will inevitably come to light as teams battle to stave off relegation. Unfortunately, all this will be nothing new for Nepali football, where it is widely known that there are lots of shady dealings that occur behind the scenes, and sometimes even right in front of our eyes!

It is no coincidence that recently attendance has plummeted for club matches and there are very few benefactors willing to invest money or resources into Nepali football. It is paramount for ANFA, football officials and also the clubs to raise the integrity of Nepali football before it loses any credibility that it might still have left.

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