18 April 2009

ANFA loses stadium standoff

According to GoalNepal.com the NPC - Bangladesh match has been relegated to the Halchowk Stadium as Dasarath Stadium is currently booked. This is a bit of an embarrassment for Nepali football as Bangladesh spent a lot of money to send their senior men's team for a friendly match in Nepal only to have to play at the Armed Police Force training ground. It especially stings because the event that is occupying Dasarath Stadium is run by some 7-a-side football federation, a bastardization of association football which is not recognized by FIFA, thus no clubs affiliated with a FIFA Member (i.e. ANFA) should really be participating in the 7-a-side tournament.

In fairness to ANFA, the political situation in Nepal is such where you just have to grin and bear these things sometimes. However, there really is little excuse for ANFA to invite a team to come to Nepal without first making sure that the only proper stadium we have in the country is fully available for use.