Dasarath Rangasala’s playing surface is an embarrassment to Nepal

Dasarath Rangasala,the country’s oldest  stadium was back in the news for the same  wrong reason for the umpteenth time not too long ago.

The stadium,the original venue for the recently concluded Men’s Under-20 South Asian Federation Football Championship(SAFFC)  had to be moved to the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) training  center  in SatDobato due to the pathetic playing  surface  at the last hour.

It is common sense that playing conditions must be of the highest quality for professional football matches meeting international standards always.

In no way the  pitch  should impede the quality of  play  and put players at risk of injury.The organizer of the competition is responsible to ensure the best playing conditions regardless.

This is an ongoing issue that has not been addressed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Council (NSC) and All Nepal Football Association ( ANFA),in spite of the scale and urgency  of the situation.

This is flat out incompetence and  irresponsibility of these agencies.As a result, Nepal has  paid a heavy price and been  denied the opportunity to  host  international matches on several occasions over the years.

The inability to host and manage  international matches due to subpar ground conditions has dented the overall image and reputation  of the country globally.  

 

Besides, sports enthusiasts have been denied the chance to watch their team play  live and rally around them,displaying unity and nationalism for a common cause.

ANFA  continues to squander the chance to showcase its capabilities  to organize international tournaments,boost its image and benefit in  terms of  gate and sponsorship revenue.

As things stand,the  problem is very clearly getting worse and the concerned authorities are yet to take the matter seriously.

Appropriate  and necessary  maintenance  work  for the playing field   should have been undertaken regularly after  officials of the Asian Football Confederation deemed the pitch quality substandard and denied Nepal from hosting the World Cup qualifiers.

Going back to the regional tournament, it is outrageous and shameful  that nothing was done   by both NSC and ANFA to have the ground ready for the competition..

Prior to the start of the championship, the responsible parties  had  plenty of time to  inspect and assess the ground conditions and make the right decision.Instead they blatantly ignored and waited till the last moment. 

ANFA should have taken stock of  the ground condition and made the decision to change the venue well in advance to protect themselves from  criticism.

They, however, turned a blind eye and did not give a damn.To me this is a classic example of gross negligence and dereliction of duty on their part.

The ANFA training center playing pitch installed with  astro turf in 2014 is  gradually inching towards  wear and tear condition as well. The state of the turf  clearly visible during the Under-20 SAFCC raised many eyebrows.Evidently the  football body has failed to maintain the surface regularly.

Dasarath Rangasala was also the venue for the recently concluded AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers between  Nepal’s league champions Church Boys United and Bhutan’s league  winners Paro  FC.

 

The organizer  deemed it playable and  ridiculed themselves by going  ahead with the match ignoring players safety.Later their decision backfired. 

Paro  FC players rightfully criticized the playability of the field and unsafe conditions following the match.They  did the right thing by calling  a spade a spade.

What boggles my mind is, why did ANFA not  change the venue for the match knowing that the playing surface was  horrendous and unfit  for the match ?

As for the Under-20 tournament, ANFA was in two minds about venue change till the last minute.They were forced to move the venue to ANFA training center, following Bhutanese  players outbursts over the playing conditions.to avoid further criticisms. 

More than anything else,players safety   always comes first and has to be given topmost priority. At no cost it should be compromised.

Apart from sporting events of all kinds, Dasarath Rangasala  continues to be used for non-sporting events like music concerts, political rallies and many more, contributing significantly to further deterioration of the pitch.

On top of that, management and maintenance of the field has lagged behind and  been far from desired.The only solution  to the  ongoing problem is construction of  a  new fully  modernized stadium exclusively for football.