British Gurkha Cup: Just another mediocre event

At the outset, my sincere gratitude to the sponsor of the First   British Gurkha Cup football championship, the biggest ever in terms of prize money in the history of Nepali football.  Evidently sans their involvement   the tournament would not have happened.

I do hope the   sponsor support   the tournament for many more years. The competition played in a league cum knock out format and   organized by All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) did generate quite a buzz.

The championship was well received by fans   that   were supportive throughout. Noticeably   football goers go to matches long as they are competitive and electrifying

The   tournament   concluded with   triumph for  star-studded Three Stars Club. Other than that, there was  excitement and  surprises aplenty, and at times absolute boredom as well. To add it provided teams  valuable practice session for  numerous  domestic  tourneys up on cards.

The hasty   manner in which the  tournament was run  gave the impression that the organizer was rushing  to conclude at the earliest. The regional teams along with Peoples Liberation  Army (PLA) and ANFA Under- 16 hugely disappointed performance wise.

Particularly, the regional  teams  and PLA to some degree  not only  performed  below par but  were   ill-  prepared and  did not deserve to be in the tournament. We cannot   afford  to  invite mediocre teams and let   down  spectators  by    lopsided matches.

Otherwise,   the   competition is bound to   suffer   from   spectators  stand point. It is, therefore, vital  for   the organizer  to ensure the  quality and not quantity for the tournament’s   ultimate success.

 The event attracted   most of the   country’s   top   clubs   with the sole exception of   Tribhuvan   Club. Politics sadly    was   grossly   in play, thus putting a damper on the  tournament . The   army outfit withdrew, following   PL A’s inclusion in the championship.

The two warring sides must   resolve   their differences and refrain   from   politicizing sporting platforms as   witnessed.  The  matter of fact is that we cannot risk the participation of  Tribhuvan  Club, a major  player  in Nepali sports.

Speaking of the competition, Machhindra Club and  Rani Pokhari  Club (RCT)  surprised  everyone by their inspiring and feisty performance. The teams  studded with promising youngsters brilliantly served till the end.

Machhindra Club  failed narrowly to reach the final going down in the last four against   Manang Marsyandhi Club (MMC) in a pulsating  tie-breaker. On the other hand, RCT  performed  mightily against Three Stars  before going down by a solitary goal in the semi-final.

Three Stars did win the final against MMC but both  outfits looked far from convincing. The  defeat of Nepal Police  in the quarter-final was  by far  the tournament’s  biggest upset.

 On the positive side, the   competition brought to the forefront   new youngsters with enormous talent. This confirms the fact that there is no dearth of talent in the country.  However, quality and   performance   wise   it turned out to be just another   dull   domestic   tournament.

The kind of popularity enjoyed by   football   in the  country  is unparalleled and  unrivalled. That is  why  the  game    continues to lure sponsors either to support   development projects  or organize tournaments.

To   ensure   sponsors   long term   support ,ANFA must  get  down to serious business, coupled  with honest and  effective governance, and  this is  amiss, obviously. No wonder, the most   popular   game   continues   to   badly stagnant to date.