Lovlyanup

The success of Nepal Red has raised the expectations of Nepali football fans

After a two-year hiatus in all forms of competitive football, Nepali football fans had something to cheer about on Saturday when Nepal Red beat the Sri Lankan national team 4-2 in a tie-breaker to clinch the inaugural Prime Minister Cup Invitational Football Tournament. The competition, which featured six-teams -- two from Nepal (Red and Blue), the national sides of Sri Lanka and Pakistan and a club side each from Thailand and Bangladesh -- also provided members of the Nepali national team much-needed practice ahead of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenger Cup scheduled to kick off March 26 in Kathmandu.

The Maoist-affiliated Nepal Republican Sports Federation (NRSF), which organised the tournament in collaboration with the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), deserves some credit for their effort to bring Nepali football lovers quality action on the pitch; but sadly, the overall management of the tournament left much to be desired. Many people have, with some justification, seen the tournament as nothing more than an effort on the part of Maoist youths to ingratiate themselves with Prime Minster Pushpa Kamal Dahal. And to raise some moolah. Notably, no accounts have been kept of the approximately Rs. 8 million collected from ticket sales. The winning Nepali players, the real crowd-pullers, didn't get a penny for their hard work.

Security lapses were alarming too. Following Nepal Red's win in the final at Dashrath Stadium, hundreds of supporters swarmed onto the field, cutting short the players' celebrations and seriously undermining the security of the visiting Sri Lankan national team. Security measures will have to be tightened if Nepal is to avoid a fiasco in the upcoming AFC tournament. There were other glitches too. ANFA made another blunder by appointing Nepali referees and linesmen even in games involving Nepali teams. In a tight game, with a partisan crowd behind the home team, foreign teams rely heavily on referees to make bias-free calls. Thus, the Pakistan contingent's accusation of bias against their players cannot be dismissed out of hand. The scheduling was just as bad. At one point, Nepal Red had to play three games in a span of four days. These are just some of the concerns ANFA will have to address before the AFC tournament.

The success of Nepal Red has raised the expectations of Nepali football fans, many of whom will be hoping for similar success in the upcoming AFC qualifiers. But they need to be realistic about Nepal's chances. Football is by far the most popular sport in the country. So much so that people associate the success of the Nepali national team with their own pride. But unlike cricket, played at the top level by only a handful of countries, football is a truly international game played competitively in almost every country in the world. Hence Nepalis need to maintain a sense of proportion when they weigh Nepal's prospects in the international football arena.

Yogamber Suwal, who has already coached Nepal in the seventh SAF Games in Madras in 1995, has been re-appointed head coach of Nepal's national team now busy preparing for the AFC cup in a closed camp. Let us hope that Nepal builds on Nepal Red's success at the Prime Minister's Cup when they take on the likes of Kyrgyzstan, Palestine and Afghanistan -- each of which can be a tough nut to crack on a given day -- during the AFC Challenger Cup. Some managerial and security issues need to be sorted out. Besides that, all that genuine supporters of Nepali football ask for is for the players to give it their best shot.