Ministry’s interest in protecting stadiums garner admiration

Kathmandu, Mar. 17: Dasharath Rangasala is a multi-purpose stadium that has been hosting national and international tournaments for different sports around the year since its establishment in 1956. However, despite being a multi-use sports complex, Dasharath Rangasala is the only international-standard football stadium in Nepal.

Nepal’s national football teams (men’s and women’s senior and junior) have at least a couple of international tournaments or friendlies to play annually. Among several football stadiums throughout the country, Dasharath Rangasala has been the only suitable place to host those 

international matches.

For instance, following the SAFF Executive Committee’s decision on January 10, 2024, Nepal was given the responsibility to host Bangladesh, India and Bhutan for the 6th SAFF U16 Women’s Championship. 

The organisers highly expected to use Dasharath Rangasala for the SAFF tournament scheduled from March 1 to 10. It was speculated that organising the SAFF tournament in Lalitpur was to repair and maintain Dasharath Rangasala for Nepal’s home match against Bahrain at the World Cup Qualifiers. Nepal was scheduled to host Bahrain for the first leg on March 21 and visit Bahrain for the second leg on March 26.

However, the tournament was organised at the Lalitpur-based ANFA Complex as the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body of association football in Asia, showed concerns about Dasharath Rangasal’s football field during their inspection in February 2024.

On March 1, Nepal’s football governing body ANFA clarified that the AFC deemed Dasharath Rangasala unfit for the WC Qualifier match against Bahrain after a field visit. 

ANFA then started struggling to find an alternate stadium for the home match abroad as Nepal had none. Recently, Nepal and Bahrain agreed that Bahrain would host both legs of the qualifier confrontation.

While Nepal’s football team found a stadium to play the qualifier, the Nepali football community was unhappy as they could not cheer the team physically in the home match. 

The community is blaming the National Sports Council and ANFA for the stadium’s deterioration by providing it for every kind of sport and non-sport activities. Moreover, the stadium was again used for a non-sport activity after the AFC’s decision.

Nevertheless, as Nepal’s sports fraternity was getting more worried about Nepal’s available sports infrastructure throughout the country, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has finally shown concerns. The initiation taken by the ministry under the new leadership of Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha has given a breath of relief to the sports community.

Criteria to be set for stadium operation

According to the ministry, the continuity of several activities despite the stadium being deemed unfit for international matches had drawn its attention.

“Until a procedure for stadium operation is implemented, every non-sport activity has been prohibited in Dasharath Rangasala,” read a statement by the ministry on March 15.

As signed by the ministry’s information officer Lekhnath Neupane, the statement informs that the ministry is preparing a procedure to set criteria for stadium operation throughout the country. “A sports calendar will also be formed and implemented effectively,” the statement read.

According to the ministry, the National Sports Development Act, 2077, makes NSC responsible for the construction, management and repair of sports infrastructure; the Act also asks the council to enforce a procedure for stadium construction and operation. Likewise, the National Sports Development Regulations, 2079, gives the ministry as well as the NSC the jurisdiction to repair stadiums.

“However, the responsibilities have not been taken seriously to date. The ministry ensures to end irregularities in the sports sector and not let Nepali sports fans miss the chance to see the national teams play at the home turf,” the statement read.