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Kathmandu, July 28. In the AFC Challenge Cup play-offs, the match between Nepal League champions Church Boys United and Bhutan League champions Paro Football Club will be played at Dasharath Rangshal on Tuesday.
About nine months later, when an international match was held at the Dashrath Stadium, questions were raised about the pitch. No international match had been held there since the match between Nepal and Yemen on December 2, 2080 at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu.
Meanwhile, the Nepal national team was unable to play its two matches scheduled at the Dasharath Stadium as the pitch conditions were not suitable for the match. Nepal played its matches against Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at neutral venues as part of the World Cup qualifiers.
Nepal was banned from playing at its home ground after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) raised questions about the pitch conditions, safety and flooding and landslides at the Dasaratha Stadium.
The football match between Church Boys and Paro AFC will be played at Dashrat Stadium after AFC gave permission for international football matches to be held at the stadium.
But Bhutan Paro head coach Pushpalal Sharma said it will be difficult for them to play at the Dashrath Stadium. In a pre-match meeting on Monday, he said, “The first challenge is the weather conditions here. The ground is also a challenge. There were challenges in yesterday’s training as well.”
After the training on Sunday, Paro’s Japanese player Keisuke Honda said the condition of the training ground was very bad. Initially, Paro planned to train at the Nepal Army base in Bhadrakali. But as the ground was not ready in time, Paro trained at the Dasarath Stadium.
In a public video of Honda speaking, he said the training ground was terrible. ‘When I first came. It looked like a joke. There were about 100 people working. I wondered how we would play it,’ he said on Tiktok.
The expression, which he said in Japanese, was reversed and placed in the video. “I’m glad that after that we were able to train on the field for the competition,” he said in the video.
When asked about the Dasarat Stadium, he said it was different from the grounds he had played in the past. “I don’t want to compare with past pitches. Not by complaining. I have to be ready. I don’t think we can use this pitch 100 per cent,” Honda said.
During the pre-match meeting on Monday, Paro coach Pushpalal Sharma was asked about the benefits of having star players in the team.
“For me, team cohesion is more important than good players. Team coordination is the most important thing. That is what we are doing. The only frustrating thing is that Honda called it the worst match he has played in his life,” coach Sharma said.
Even the Church Boys Club did not come to the Dashrat Stadium for training before the match. Church Boys coach Balgopal Mahajan said that the inability to train at the Dashrat Stadium before the match would have an impact.
He said the place his team was training in was not good. Anant Tamang, captain of the Church Boys team, said that since he had played at the Dashrat Stadium before, there was no difference in playing there after a long gap.
All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) secretary general Kiran Rai said the AFC had approved the venue for the Challenge Cup after inspecting the Dasharath Stadium.
“The AFC will come and conduct tests during the tournament. He approved this event. When the next event comes, it will be checked again,” Rai said.
Rai said the AFC has approved the Dashrat Stadium for international matches after the National Sports Council (NRC) provided a one-year safety certificate.
Tanklal Ghising, member secretary of the National Sports Council, said that the Dashrath Stadium is now in very good condition. “The Asian Football Confederation approved the Dashrath Stadium to host international matches only after inspection. Now the venue is in very good condition.”
After the Challenge Cup playoffs, ANFA will host the SAFF U-20 Championship at the Dasharath Stadium as per the South Asian Football Federation’s plan. The championship will be held from August 2 to 12.
Similarly, the SAFF Women’s Championship is also scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in October. Prior to this, two international rugby tournaments will also be held at the Dashrath Stadium in September under the Asian Rugby Plan.
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