2013 – Unproductive, frustrating, depressing year for Nepal Football

As   2013 winds   down, which means it’s time for me to take a quick look back and    assess the ups and downs of  Nepali football.

Like always, football and cricket   hogged the headlines for the most part. Cricket, as we all know, had phenomenal success whereas   football   failed to make   any   significant headway in terms of performance and result internationally.

Football goers had to endure yet another   disappointing   and frustrating season without any question. They had   to watch their   team   languish through a losing year.

Evidently, it was, again, an all too familiar   territory   for Team Nepal. A litany of unimpressive performances contributed to their mediocrity for which   they   paid a very   heavy price.

They crashed to   successive defeats both    at home and on foreign soil, to the pure disbelief of   fans.  As a matter of fact, this is a trend that has been going   on for decades.  

The year kicked off on a bright and optimistic note, following the appointment of Jack Stefanowski as head coach of the national football team of Nepal.  He stepped into the shoes of veteran   Krishna Thapa, hoping to change things around.

In all likelihood he knew of the daunting challenges and complexities facing Nepal football. Whether he was   ready   for the challenge this big, I really don’t know. When   ANFA presented him the   chance   to prove himself, he had no hesitation to ink   the contract.

Sport enthusiasts in the country welcomed the Polish American wholeheartedly and were euphoric. They expected   big  things to come from the team   under his   stewardship. Unfortunately that did not happen. A year into his contract, but nothing seems to have changed much.

The   reality is that Team Nepal’s   woes and losing streak in international championships continue unabated. There is no need   for me to elaborate the situation. A string of poor results speak volumes.

It is hard to imagine they could not    even capitalize on their home   field   advantage   and failed to deliver results, over and over again.

The SAFF Championship was one big missed opportunity. I strongly feel they should have won. They prepared well for the competition and put up a decent performance until they met their waterloo against Afghanistan in the semifinal.

Over all, admittedly, they played well but stumbled when   it mattered most. The   home team’s only consolation came from their   convincing win over India in two decades.  Other than that, they achieved nothing noteworthy to raise their stock.

More than the coach,   I   blame the football culture and ANFA’s failed governance (that has gotten progressively worse)   for the downward spiral of Nepal football. To be fair, given the situation the very best coach in the world even cannot give desired results.

That said, in my opinion   Stefanowski, at least,   should   have   taken a   much more assertive role, especially on team and players’ issues.

Now that the marriage between Stefanowski and ANFA has   ended, all I can say is he tried his very best but all was in vain.

ANFA   was back to their   old ways   again.  Most recently they   fielded an   underprepared team against India in a friendly only to embarrass themselves, players and fans. Will they ever learn from their past mistakes? I doubt it.

Nepal’s sub- par performance   in the AFC U-19   qualifiers   in Qatar was   another major setback. The abysmal season has a silver lining, the qualification   of   Nepal for the AFC U-16 championship 2014 finals.

Having failed   to capture the SAFF Under-16 title at home, they managed to come out on top in the AFC qualifiers, giving   home fans   some   relief.

Budding Bimal Gharti Magar and talented Rohit Chand were the cynosure of everyone’s eyes. Young Magar was in the Netherlands while Chand in Denmark looking for greener pastures. The try out   was  a  lifetime experiences for both players.

They   have a very bright future and must   remain committed and focused on their goals to make the most of their potential.

On the domestic front, Three Star Club (TSC) and   Manang Marsyangdhi Club (MMC) emerged as the two most dominant teams, while the formidable Nepal Police Club   slumped to a record low.

TSC narrowly edged out MMC for the Kathmandu League title and earning   the right to represent the country in the 2013 AFC President’s Cup.

The Patan outfit   qualified to the finals in Malaysia; however, their dream of winning the tournament ended, following the blowout defeat at hands of Balkan, Turkmenistan. The Safal Pokhara Cup winners MMC fell to TSC in the finals of the Sikkim Governors Gold Cup.

They, however, made amends by winning the Ncell Cup at the expense of Boys Union Club, the biggest surprise of the competition.

The decision   by the country’s oldest club New Road Team to suspend its competitive activities for an indefinite period and   another local outfit Rani Pokhari Corner Team’s non participation in the Ncell Cup is a serious cause for concern and certainly does not bode well for Nepal football.

The ANFA election was   a   huge   farce and as anticipated Ganesh Thapa had himself re-elected unopposed for a ridiculous fifth or sixth term as president. Clearly, the man has made ANFA his personal property.

Yet there was/is   no outrage. Both National Sport Council and   Sport Ministry have remained silent on all of this. Likewise, the so called responsible mainstream   media has given him a free pass all these years.

Twenty plus years later, under Thapa’s leadership football development has largely remained stagnant , centralized and gone nowhere.

There is no openness, accountability and transparency on part of ANFA.  Also there is lack of performance culture, integrity,   professionalism, vision, objectives and   direction.  Apparently, Thapa has no real desire to embrace change for fear of people that challenge the status quo.

There is   exclusiveness and a great deal of   vested interest at work. There is no room for outside people, especially independent   football experts   in the work   and deliberations of the football body.

The biggest irony is every new year starts with high hopes but sadly  ends in despair.We are so accustomed to it that we barely notice it any more. How bad can things   get ?