Kudos to Sankata Club and Madhyapur Youth Association (MYA) for entering the top flight of Nepali football by finishing top two in the B Division football league. It´s a sweet revival for Sankata, the team that has a long experience of being in the A Division. For five-year-old MYA, it´s a laudable success, especially, as the team consists mostly of players from its own training program. MYA is also the first team from Bhaktapur district to get a place in the top level of the most popular sports in the country.
It´s sad that Birgunj Youth Academy Club, a team mentored by 49-year-old Ritu Shakya, failed to earn the promotion despite being the only undefeated team in the competition. They were en-route for qualification until their last match in which they were held to a draw by Mahabir Club, allowing MYA an opportunity which it did not miss. MYA was established by former national captain Upendra Man Singh.
The top six clubs of the B division qualified for the B Division District League, which is an opportunity for them to compete for a huge cash prize of Rs 500,000. The event will also include two top teams from the B Division districts. Sankata and MYA can utilize the opportunity as a warm up for their A Division matches scheduled to begin in April this year. However, All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) should also think of providing financial and technical support to the promoted clubs–as in European leagues–to ensure that they remain competitive in the top league.
A total of 105 matches played at the Police Training Center, Maharajgunj under B Division not only saw competitive football but also witnessed some ugly scenes that ANFA need to tackle carefully.
The allegations of poor refereeing surfaced frequently as usual, and rather than ignoring the accusations as rants from losing teams, it´s better for ANFA to develop a strategy to counter them. The association could, for example, ask teams to fill referee evaluation forms or warn them against making allegations of poor refereeing without first lodging a formal complaint.
One positive aspect of the tournament was action taken against Gyan Bhairav Club for walking out of their match. The club was barred from playing further and relegated. Although there were procedural flaws in the decision-making (The club was not given a chance to present their case or appeal against the decision), it was a decision that´s going to benefit the game in the long run.
The biggest challenge facing ANFA, however, is the allegations of match-fixing.
Star Club has formally filed a complaint against Sankata Club and one of their own players charging them with match-fixing. Birgunj´s coach Ritu Shakya publicly asked ANFA to keep an eye on the crucial match between Star Club and MYA suspecting that the match could be fixed.
I once overheard a club official, after it became sure that his club was neither going to be promoted nor relegated, saying (probably jokingly) that it´s the time for the club to earn some money!
ANFA has to investigate Star Club´s complaint and come up with a formidable report. They should develop a mechanism to control match-fixing because even in the top league there are ´off the record´ claims of match-fixing. After every match and tournament, football should emerge as the ultimate winner and all the ugly aspects of this beautiful game must be defeated
