By Sushil Thapa,Fairfax,VA

All Nepal Football Association is all set to host the Men’s Under 20 South Asian Federation
Football Championship from August, 2024 in Kathmandu.

The tournament comes at a time when Nepal football is going through a lean phase in terms of
performance and results in the international arena.

Be it the senior or different age group national teams, it has been a story of mediocrity,struggle,
ragged performance and persistent poor results.

Given the falling standards, there is a need to work collectively with a sense of urgency to
arrest the decline and turn things around.

Every data indicates that the decline is not an exaggeration and is rapidly accelerating by the
day. As a result, football is in a state of decay with uncertainty looming large.
It is a well-known fact that the root cause of the decline is largely due to the complete failure of
the All Nepal Football Association(ANFA) to manage and push sustainable development in the
right direction over the decades.

The truth is that the football body has been all about weak leadership,bad governance,
incompetence, mismanagement ,bureaucracy,failed policies ,lack of vision and factionalism.
Besides,the development process continues to be impeded by the sorry state of grassroots
level football,woefully inadequate infrastructure and facilities, absence of the right kind of
investment and sponsorship, paucity of funds,lack of professionalism in the domestic league
structure and long -term planning,
Additionally,there is a dearth of quality coaches,youth development programs and academies
across the country.

Consequently, young aspirants are being denied proper training and grooming,thus hindering
them from reaching their full potential.

To make matters worse,the government is yet to show their intentions to reform governance in
ANFA(which is a must) in order to make it more responsible, effective and accountable to
enhance the football development landscape in the country. So far there are no signs to
support the sport on their part.

Also the majority of the football clubs in the country continue to struggle financially.They are
without their own stadiums,training grounds,essential training facilities and equipment.

Considering the current situation, it is very clear that sans proper government involvement and
support for the most popular sport in the country,the state of the sport is bound to go from bad
to worse,stagnating it further.

Furthermore ,there is absence of a national team development program to identify and groom
high potential young booters in the country.

Going back to the upcoming Under-20 championship,it will feature up-and coming stars of
South Asia who are most likely to make it to their respective national teams in coming years.
With the withdrawal of Pakistan,now it is a six-team competition.Hosts Nepal,Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh are in Group A, while Group B features defending champions India,Bhutan and
Maldives.

Team Nepal takes on Sri Lanka in the opener on August 18th.They have a chance to redeem
themselves and end their lengthy championship drought.

It will be possible only if they put in a consistent and solid concerted effort throughout the
competition.

Apart from that,they have to show mental fortitude,physical toughness,resilience and
determination to overcome the odds.

It is imperative that they cash in on field advantage,cope with the pressure of playing well,rise
to the occasion,perform to their ability and deliver the goods. Likewise, they should be aiming
for a winning start to build early momentum.

“GoalNepal”,the country’s numero uno Nepali football website had reported that the team
began their preparation for the competition without proper training kits, which was/is hard to
believe.

This is the height of mismanagement and negligence on the part of the ANFA which is
unacceptable. If they cannot even provide basic kits to the team for the training,what can we
expect from them going forward.

Instead of inspiring, motivating and guiding the team to achieve their best with effective
management,they are demoralizing players and impacting the preparation.

As long as ANFA fails in their responsibilities and duties,they will continue to be a major
constraint to the development of Nepal football. And there will be no end to players and fans
frustration and disappointment.