The paradox of Nepalese football

Nepal national team at the send-off ceremony before going to Vietnam to play 2 qualifying matches for the 2027 Asian Cup.

Before departing for Vietnam to prepare for two matches on October 9 and October 14 in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, Nepal coach Matt Ross said that the football team wanted to follow the example of the cricket team, creating a miracle by defeating the Vietnam team.

Football has a long history in Nepal and has become the most popular sport . However, success has always eluded them. The World Cup is a distant dream. They have not even made it to the Asian Cup. Meanwhile, cricket is growing rapidly and has made many notable marks. Last year, the Nepal men's cricket team qualified for the T20 World Cup for the second time and are currently playing a series of T20 matches.

Decades ago, football in Nepal could guarantee both fame and fortune. That is why Ashok KC, a famous cricket star, decided to switch to football. But now it is the opposite scenario. Paras Khadka, who won the selection to be selected for the national U17 football team, unexpectedly decided to pursue cricket. He is now the captain of the Nepal cricket team, leading the team to extraordinary achievements.

Coach Matt Ross hopes his players will follow the example of the cricket team.

Paras saw a bright future for cricket, despite the prejudice in Nepal that it is a sport for the rich. Cricket requires a huge investment in bats, balls, wickets and pitches. Football is simpler. Surprisingly, Nepalese youth are increasingly preferring cricket to football. Even in times of political instability, civil strife and economic crisis, Nepali cricket has emerged as a symbol of success and inspiration for the people through sport.

This is quite strange because football has a fairly solid foundation thanks to government sponsorship, leading to the birth of clubs and a system of tournaments. However, due to rigid management, the influence of football is limited to the capital Kathmandu. In contrast, cricket has continuously expanded to the villages, attracting maximum talent and receiving countless commercial contracts.

According to former Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Binay Raj Pandey, cricket's superiority over football is largely due to effective management. NepalNews reported that the annual budget for Nepalese football is 1.56 billion rupees, while the total budget for cricket is only about 700 million rupees per year.

Nepal national team training in home country Nepal.

However, the Vice President of the Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Shahi himself admitted that the lack of leadership, transparency and vision has weakened the country's football. Until now, ANFA still does not have a stadium of its own. Dasharath Stadium belongs to the National Sports Council and is not qualified for international matches.

During the preparation for the two matches against the Vietnamese team, vice-captain Rohit Chand lamented that not playing at home is a big disadvantage for the Nepal team. Besides, because the Nepal national championship has not been held for the past 3 years, the players have had little time to compete. "Not playing football regularly makes our physical condition not guaranteed. Besides, the financial situation is also very unstable," Chand said.

In the context that a male cricketer of category D can earn 35,000 rupees per month during the national team training period (women of the same category earn 20,000 rupees), football players called up to the national team only receive 18,500 rupees, but are often paid late. It is not surprising that the performance of the Nepal national team tends to go down. In Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, in addition to finishing at the bottom of the table, they also disappointed when they lost to Laos for the first time in history.

But despite the difficulties, Coach Ross still expects his students to do extraordinary things like their cricket colleagues. That seems like a dream that is difficult to come true.