The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) had earlier conducted the PCR tests for 34 members, including players, coaches, officials and staff, before starting indoor training sessions for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup.

However, the ANFA postponed the indoor training sessions following the recent decision of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to postpone the Asian Cup scheduled for 2023.

So, the Nepali players, who reached Kathmandu Valley for the indoor training, have already returned to their respective hometown.

On August 12, 2020, the AFC postponed all men’s qualifiers scheduled in October and November for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.

ALSO READ: The Story of Nepali Football

The AFC and FIFA issued a joint statement stating that the delay is for the safety of all participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The games will be rescheduled in 2021.

Stay Tuned to NepaliSasnar for Latest Sports News Nepal!

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Continuing its years-long journey in the Asian Games, Nepal is stepping into the 18^th Asian Games tournament
2018 Asian Games (ASIAD) to be held in Indonesia (Jakarta and Palembang) during August 18-September 2, 2018.

This time, Nepal’s participation is seen in different sports categories such as Archery, Kabaddi, Paragliding, Football, Volleyball, Athletics, Swimming, Judo, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Golf, Weightlifting, Boxing, Basketball, among others.

Let’s take a look at how various Nepali teams are gearing up for the upcoming battle!

Taekwondo:
Continuing its success track in taekwondo, Nepali taekwondo team is keen on bringing back the country’s past glory through ASIAD 2018.

Nepali taekwondo team holds a strong record in the history of Asian Games. While Nepal won 23 medals so far, surprisingly 14 of them are from taekwondo alone. 

However, the country’s taekwondo is currently in a dire need to see a winning situation as it hasn’t struck a single medal since 2006.

Finally, the 14-member Nepali taekwondo team has been under a rigorous training in South Korea and is hoping high on ASIAD 2018.

The participating team has the country’s most successful taekwondo players- Deepak Bista, Sangina Baidhya, Badri Prasad Ghimire and Norbu Lama. Bista and Baidhya are known for marking Nepal’s first-ever participation in the Olympics Games.

“We are preparing really well and doing everything we need to do. Our focus is winning medals at the ASIAD. But, if the players perform to the level they are now, we can certainly strike medals,” says Bista.

Swimming:
Nepal’s young swimming sensation Gaurika Singh is hoping a lot from the Asian Games 2018.

“Hopefully I will be able to break national records in the Asian Games,” said Singh, who will compete in 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle events. “I will gel up with my friends, have fun with them and gain experience for the South Asian Games,” reads Singh’s statement.

While her teammates went to Thailand for training, Singh chose her home and returned to Kathmandu from London two weeks back to undergo different training sessions in Nepal.

The 16-yr-old Olympian swimmer rose to fame in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games leaving a special mark as the youngest athlete.

“The experience of the ASIAD will be helpful for the South Asian Games and I hope to win gold medal for the country and make the nation proud,” says Singh, who won a silver and three bronzes in the 12th South Asia Games in 2015.

Singh is also keen on winning a gold in the 13^th edition of the South Asia Games to be held in March 2019 in Kathmandu.

Kabaddi:
Battling the odds, Nepal’s kabaddi team is finally making it to beyond national borders.

The team has already announced a 12-member men’s squad for the ASIAD 2018 in Jakarta with Tara Singh Bhat as the head coach and Arvind Jha as the team manager.

Nepal is stepping into the Asian Games after a long gap of 19 years and 18 months since 1990, when it ranked fourth in the points table at the Asian Games in Beijing followed by 1994 where the team rose to fame at the fifth position.

The team again rose to fame in the 2010 South Asian Games for winning a bronze medal in the championship. Lastly in 2017, the team proved their best once at the second position in the International Invitational Men’s Kabaddi Tournament, giving a new hope to Nepal’s kabaddi journey.

Now, the team is gearing up for the 2018 Asian Games with a combo of veteran players and fresh entrants, with Mahesh Bohara leading the team.

After a 16-year long gap, Nepali football team resumed its participation at the Asian Games platform again in South Korea in 2004.

Overall, in four entries since their first one in 1982 until 1998, Nepali football team made 52 goals in 12 games and saw only 13 goals in three games in the last edition.

Now, a 20-member Nepali team left for Indonesia to play the Asian Games 2018 in the Group D category against Japan, Vietnam and Pakistan.

‘Participation Itself an Achievement’
Speaking on sidelines of the Asian Games 2018, Nepal National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista termed ‘participation’ in such an event itself is a big achievement for Nepali athletes.

“Participation in the Asian Games itself is like winning medals for players of Nepal,” reads Bista’s statement.

Despite weak past records in the international sports arena, Nepal managed to field a total 185 players in 29 different games for the Asian Games 2018, lauded Bista.

Surprisingly, none of these 29 different sports teams underwent proper ASIAD-specific training for more than six months, in case of which looking for a medal is being considered unrealistic.

Training apart, entry into some of these 29 sports categories were announced only in the last two weeks.

However, Bista is confident about Nepali teams’ capabilities as he says the teams could have best-ever preparations for Asian Games and reiterated that the teams would return home with outstanding results from Indonesia tournament.

Till date, Nepal has won 23 medals including a silver and 22 bronze medals in the last 15 Asian Games participation they participated in since 1951.

Some of the top medal contenders to be seen at the 2018 Asian Games include:

• Wrestling: Bajrang Punia, Sushil Kumar and Vinesh Phogat
• Badminton: PV Sindhu, K Srikanth and Saina Nehwal
• Boxing: Vikas Krishan, Shiva Thapa and Sonia Lather
• Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Divij Sharan and Ramkumar Ramanathan
• Athletics: Hima Das, Neeraj Chopra and Dutee Chand

Hope the commitment and confidence levels that the Council has towards the Nepali sports teams will yield best-ever results for the country in the Asian Games 2018. All the Best Nepal!

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The program launched by Gazprom, the official partner of FIFA and FIFA World Cup 2018, intends to promote human values, friendship, equality and respect among young communities of the world.

“The sixth Gazprom Football for Friendship, being held in collaboration with FIFA, is an event that brings together children from 211 countries and regions. We are delighted to support the program and will be nominating two young students from Nepal to participate in the programme in Moscow in June,” said Sanjib Mishra, Deputy General Secretary of the All Nepal Football Association in an official release.

“We look forward to these young children becoming a part of the global movement of football for peace,” adds Mishra.

With regard to the project, an open draw was held in Moscow, wherein, 32 International Teams of Friendship and relevant player roles (midfielder, forward, defender and goalkeeper) were identified.

Of these, a young Nepali footballer has been selected for the forward role in the African Elephant team.

As part of this international championship, athletes from different countries, genders and physical abilities were grouped into one team, and each team will undergo training by young coaches, who comprise of footballers from different countries in the age group of 14-16yrs.

Post the championship, all the finalized young ambassadors will participate in the sixth International Football for Friendship Children’s Forum, wherein, they will discuss ways to take ahead the program’s key values.

Reflecting the protection of ecoology theme behind the program, each of the teams were named after the endangered animals across the globe.

For Human Principles

“The sixth season of the international children’s social program, Football for Friendship is officially open. This year, F4F is supported by 211 countries and regions. We live in an age where people all over the world seek to unite behind the principles of equality and respect for each other. The project is a crucial element in this process,” says Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at PJSC Gazprom.

Meanwhile, the FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura also said, “We are glad to support this unique initiative from the FIFA partner, Gazprom. The forum is a perfect example of how football can be used to open doors for girls and boys from all backgrounds, a mission that FIFA supports actively.”

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In a recently-held football tournament, the non-resident Nepali football team registered a grand victory against Sri Lanka in a match held as part of the Sixth Asian Non-Resident Football Tournament.

In a match held in the Sports Stadium, the Nepali team beat Sri Lanka for 2-0 and secured its position in the semi-final round of the tournament.

Shiva Shrestha and Rakesh Saapkota drove the team to success with stunning goals with Shiva hitting his goal in the sixth minute of the second half of the match and Rakesh in the 19^th minute.

Skipper Shiva Shrestha was declared the Man of the Match for his outstanding performance.

“The semi-final is crucial for us. We are eyeing the trophy this season,” says Sanjeev Ranabhat, Chairperson of Nepali football team.

The Nepali team will now play the semi-final match on March 22, 2018 against the winner of the Lebanon-Bangladesh match, which is yet to happen.

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In the opening match of the football tournament, Nepal faced Bangladesh driving the latter to lose the game at a score of 2-0.

The match held at Doha Stadium saw outstanding performance by Nepali Striker Indra Jung Limbu who gave a dashing start hitting a goal in the very first five minutes of the match.

And, the second goal at the 23^rd minute of the game was hit by Arjun Subba.

Bhakta Bhandari played a significant role, by passing on balls, behind the goals of both the players.

Meanwhile, the match with Japan saw a winning performance of Nepali football team against the Japanese football team at 2-0.

The match with Japan, held at Al-Markhiya Stadium, saw outstanding performances by Arjun Subba and Shiba Shrestha.

Nepali football team’s next match with Lebanon has been scheduled for February 8, 2018, the fourth match against Singapore on February 15, 2018, and the fifth match with Indonesia on March 1, 2018.

All the next three matches have been scheduled to be held at Doha Stadium.

Nepali football team comprises of Captain Shiva Shrestha, Arjun Subba, Indra Jung Limbu, Bhakta Bhandari, Pasang Sherpa, Milan Thapa, Anil Dhimal, Pawan Napit, Dipak Sonar, Dawa Lama, Bikesh Bhandari, Ganesh Khadka, Dipak Sonar and Bharat Dital.

There are two groups in the tournament. Group A includes India, Jordan, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and South Korea while Group B includes Nepal, Lebanon, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh and Singapore.

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The football world cup, titled 2018 Street Child World Cup, will be held during May 19-27, 2018 in Moscow, Russia.

Apart from the Nepali football team in the Boys category, this football tournament will feature 24
U-17 football teams, 12 each in Boys and Girls categories, from 22 countries.

A Nepal-based NGO Shelter Ashraya Nepal has taken this initiative to present the Nepali football on a global platform.

The candidates were finalized based on a three-day selection tournament held among 14 teams of 15 institutions, who have been offering shelter to orphans and street children, in Kathmandu in September 2017. 

“The selected players are undergoing training with the All Nepal Football Association’s (ANFA) assistance. We believe the players will represent whole Nepal in the World Cup rather than specific institutions,” says Khusbu Oli, President, Shelter Ashraya.

According to Oli, the football team Head Coach Rajan Neupane and ANFA Coach Nabin Maharjan have also appreciated the final team.

The Nepali team, with other five reserved players, has Aron Karki as the goalkeeper and Manbir Lama and Bikash Timsina as the defenders.

Ramesh Shah, Sachin BK Rohan Bhusal, Santosh Khatri, Harsha Thakuri and Pawan Shahi are among other key players.

Around 200 street-connected children from various parts of the world will come together in Moscow for this international football tournament, which also includes festival of arts and Congress for their rights.

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