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Once again the national football team of Nepal is  gearing up for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against India. It will be a big challenge,no doubt.   Is there any hope for this team? Having finally beaten India  after nearly two decades  in the South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFFC) held in Kathmandu in 2013,there is reason for a degree of optimism in supporters.  Will there be another encore ? This is a million dollar question. We will have to wait and see what happens. I will say though a reasonable result is possible unless the team plays their heart out to make sure they accomplish something.   I do  not have high expectations from the team. Keeping in mind their poor track record, I am afraid that the odds are heavily stacked against Nepal. By no means, it will be easy for them to beat the odds. In the midst of a long,brutal and tight domestic football season, the World Cup qualifiers is taking place. The majority of players  at closed  camp are yet

After a gap of nearly twenty years I finally got the opportunity to witness the final game of  Birat Gold Cup in Biratnagar. I felt nostalgic as I made my way into the jam packed  Shahid Maidan  with  two of my old buddies Dipak Rai and Manohar Dewan. I was overwhelmed with joy to be back at the venue where I watched countless matches. Back then it was Mahendra Gold Cup,one of the biggest  marquee tournaments in the country.The tourney attracted the  best of the best teams in the country and top notch teams from India and Bhutan, as well. Not only was the tourney well received  in the entire eastern belt but  got football goers into a  frenzy. Unfortunately ,the  tournament was  discontinued due to lack of funds.  After long hiatus, the  football crazed city of Biratnagar  was finally presented with  Birat Gold Cup through the initiative of Birat Gold Cup Trustee. Now in its fourth edition, Birat Gold Cup is slowly gaining grounds.However, it has a very long w

Not too long ago the suspension of President of All Nepal Football Association Ganesh Thapa from office caught everyone by surprise.  The decision by the world football governing body     to suspend the powerful All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) chief came totally out of the blue. Since then, he has kept a low profile, rarely speaking to the media. Mr. Thapa, however, is on the brink of completing his four- month suspension. What awaits him next? At this point nobody has any clue. All we can do is speculate. Once Mr. Thapa completes his suspension, FIFA cannot remain silent and must reveal the findings of their reinvestigation. Nonetheless, his fate hangs in the balance for now.   The ball is in FIFA’s court. It is up to them to acquit Mr. Thapa of alleged corruption scandal surrounding him or suspend him for an indefinite period of time. What baffles me the most is why it is taking so long for FIFA to review the case and give their verdict? I can only think

The national cricket team of Nepal’s sojourn to Namibia was another so close so far story. Without a doubt, they played well but not well enough to reach another historical milestone in international cricket. They had put themselves within striking distance of securing an unbelievable achievement but stumbled at the last hurdle. It was obviously a missed opportunity. Their inability to seal the deal is what cost them. The high-pressure game against Kenya just proved too much for them to handle. To add insult to injury, the Kenyans got the better of a demoralized Nepali outfit for the second consecutive game to finish third in the World Cup League Division Two. In hindsight, Nepal had to pay a heavy price for their narrow loss to lowly Uganda in the opener. They bounced back with a vengeance, notching    three straight wins and success appeared inevitable but proved elusive at the end. The loss to Kenya showed how one match could instantly reverse the fortunes of a