Nepal Police trumps in lackluster Martyr's League

Let me start by congratulating Nepal Police Club for their resounding   Martyr’s league football tournament success in Kathmandu.  Though they finished   tied on points with Manang   Marsyangdhi Club, a better goal difference enabled them to claim the title.

Not many expected the cops to rebound strongly and take charge of the proceedings as they did from the word go. They played consistently   and   maintained   the pole position all the way through the three month long competition.

Despite    the last match loss to Manang Marsyangdhi   Club (MMC) the departmental side was at the top of their game over all. They handled crunch matches intelligently and   steamrolled   weak   opposition   to maintain their domination.

Prior to start of the league the champion club of the country   had gone through a lean phase and failed to win a single tournament for a considerable period of time. Their struggle took everyone by complete surprise, including me    and    had   skeptics   all over the place.

Obviously, coach   Birat   Krishna   Shrestha   was under intense pressure to   deliver the goods and preserve his status   as one of the country’s   best coaches.  Eventually   his   sharp   instinct, game   strategies   and dynamism   paid rich dividends.

This is the third time Shrestha    has guided   Police   to   a well deserved league title and   thus proved that his side is the number one.  Also   he reached a personal   milestone   in his career, and the feat makes him the most triumphant coach in the country.  

In retrospect the league was   low- key, lackluster, controversial, and mismanaged and a huge let down.  As always   All Nepal Football   Association   (ANFA), the organizer was culpable of making a mockery of the league.

Most matches were played to   empty   galleries.  It is obvious that ANFA ignored the repackaging     and marketing aspect of the  competition , and   no wonder the gate collection was a fiasco .Two grounds were used for the tournament   with playing conditions far from desirable.

The majority   of players   seemed   drained mentally and physically because of   tight scheduling of matches.   Barring a handful of individual brilliance it was an exhibition of ordinary football, all in all.  In my observation   the   highlight of the league was Jawalakhel   Youth Club’s third place finish and Armed Police Force insipid showing.

The   presence   of   foreign players   was the only   bright feature of the league.  There were controversies   aplenty in the form of   dubious   umpiring, match fixing, and security issues and so on, which drew flak from all quarters.

Match fixing is a serious   concern and has to be   dealt   with   a   firm hand;   unfortunately, ANFA   seemed to have turned a blind eye. Venting   anger   over   poor   umpiring   and   match fixing allegation MMC threatened to pull out from the league.

The height of   ANFA’s   mismanagement was in full display, following Koilapani’s decision to quit the league midway through on financial ground. In addition, the first team outside the Valley to play in the league revealed that they were deprived of proper accommodation and facilities by the management.

Of the 18 participating teams   most were inadequately   prepared for the   long haul, and that was evident in their sluggish and disorganized performance.  Clubs like NPC, TSC, MMC,NRT, RCT,TC and HSC were  constantly under the radar but none of them were able to dish out a performance that could be termed outstanding.

Although   APF was  stuck  in the relegation  zone  most of the time they managed  to find an escape route at the end. Last year’s   wonder club Machhendra   FC   barely managed to save themselves  from relegation  not before getting  mired in match fixing controversy.

Koilapani, Brigade Boys, United Youth and   Swayambhu   bit the dust and are back to Division two for  next season.

To conclude, in short it was a  dull and drab  league.