Women football largely ignored by ANFA

Now the focus has shifted to the women’s national football team of Nepal as they gear up for the upcoming Fourth South Asian Federation  Football Championship in Siliguri,West Bengal,India.

As part of the preparations,Nepal’s recent victory over Malaysia in a friendly has boosted their confidence going into the South Asian tourney.

They kick off their campaign against Bhutan in the opener and must get off to a winning start in order to keep  the momentum going.

Lately the men’s national squad has been in the limelight for their success in the AFC Solidarity Cup in Malaysia and impressive winning streak.

It is the women footballers turn to shine and prove themselves.The million dollar question is, can they overcome, and succeed in the face of great odds, particularly against India?  Admittedly  they have quite a  challenge up their sleeve.

Nevertheless I expect them to have a good run. They stand a fairly good chance of striking it rich but have plenty of  hard work ahead.

It is imperative that they  not  let their eyes off the ball and let their guard down.Besides, taking  games consistently  to the opposition is equally important.Also they must be in  a positive frame of mind,high spirits and full of  confidence from start to end.

They  have  to  draw inspiration from the men’s performance ,perform to their potential and produce the desired result.This is the best they can do right now.

I know it’s easier said than done. In retrospect, the ladies have fared pretty well in regional tournaments in terms of results.  

They are second best behind India,the dominant power in South Asia. Should they play to their form in the league cum knock out competition, we are looking at yet another title clash between the two arch rivals (Nepal vs India),which is highly likely.

India have had a stranglehold on South Asian Federation Football Championship (SAFFC), winning every edition since 2010, while  Nepal finished runners-up three times.They are the overwhelming favourites once again.

It is a similar storyline in the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG) with India prevailing over Nepal in 2010 and 2016 for the gold.

The most recent face off between the two countries  was in the 2016  SAFG, which   India won 4--0. But Nepal can take heart from the fact that  they had held them to a goalless draw in the same round-robin tournament.

Despite the odds being stacked against them, our footballers  have put in their very best efforts and performed bravely all along.

Without an  iota of doubt,  they are capable of putting in a much improved performance and achieving bigger laurels. But given the pathetic state of women football, it would  be unrealistic, unfair  to expect or demand more from the ladies.

They deserve every bit of  applause for sticking to the sport inspite of  challenging circumstances.At least they are playing competitive football  withstanding  difficulties and overcoming, thanks largely to their love and passion  for the game.

It is not an understatement to say that  there is little  scope  for uncountable number of aspiring footballers across the country, dreaming to make  football a career.   

As a matter of fact women football  is languishing like  never seen  before and footballers face a future of uncertainty. It is underfunded, sidelined  and largely ignored. In addition, there is virtually no development  in clubs and  at grassroots level.

I find it astonishing that even necessary kit  to SAFFC  bound national team was provided by All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) with great reluctance.Shame on you ANFA.

Unsurprisingly out of the hopeless future, we have seen  many  active footballers  prematurely hang up  their boots in recent years, while others remain skeptical, especially the new breed of footballers.

As things stand now, women football  continues to grow in popularity and participation rate, but it really does not matter. The reason is plain.  There is no conducive  environment in place  for  it to grow, flourish and take off.

Women football has never been  a priority for ANFA. They have totally failed  to deliver on their promises. What is so ironic is that  both FIFA and AFC are  promoting  and financing the development of women football , however,  at the same time ANFA has  turned a blind eye.

ANFA is largely culpable for   making no efforts whatsoever  to  support, uplift  women's football. It is hard to imagine that all these years they have failed  to put structures in place , league  competition and grassroots level development.

As always, ANFA is just all talk and no action. No wonder, they continue to neglect   women football  in a very big way. I will not be surprised if they continue to ignore. I say this because there is no one  to hold them  accountable.