By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has made the decision to halt the closed camp of the Nepal National Team, intended for the forthcoming SAFF Championship, due to dissatisfaction expressed by top-tier clubs.
On Wednesday, ANFA announced the preliminary squad for the closed camp, outlining that the selected players would train with the National Team from the next day, but would be released to participate in their respective club league matches.
However, 10 out of the 14 A Division Clubs voiced their discontent with ANFA’s decision and jointly issued a press release declaring their refusal to allow their players to join the closed camp until the completion of the ongoing Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League.
Taking the A Division Clubs’ joint press release into consideration, ANFA released another statement on Thursday evening, revealing their decision to postpone the training. Nevertheless, the national team’s training will commence as scheduled on Friday, albeit with subsequent postponement.
Vincenzo Alberto Anese, the Italian coach of the national team, had called upon the players to begin training on Thursday morning. However, due to a lack of coordination between the clubs and ANFA, not all the players reported for training.
A representative from the A Division club emphasized on Thursday that they could not release the players for training until the conclusion of the league, as ANFA had made a unilateral decision without prior discussion.
Preliminary Squad:
Goalkeepers: Kiran Chemjong (RG Punjab FC), Deep Karki (Manang Marsyangdi Club), Bishal Shrestha (Machhindra Football Club)
Defenders: Bimal Panday (Tribhuvan Army Football Club), Sanish Shrestha (APF Football Club), Ananta Tamang (Church Boys United), Devendra Tamang (Machhindra Football Club), Nishan Khadka (Sankata Club), Ashish Gurung (Manang Marsyangdi Club), Bikram Lama (Three Star Club), Rohit Chand (Persic Kedri), Simanta Thapa (Jawalakhel Youth Club), Anjal Maharjan (Friends Club)
Midfielders: Pujan Uperkoti (Machhindra Football Club), Arik Bista (Church Boys United), Nabin Lama (APF Football Club), Mani Kumar Lama (APF Football Club), Sudip Gurung (Satdobato Youth Club), Laken Limbu (Three Star Club), Awas Lamichhane (APF Football Club), Bishal Tamang (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
Forwards: Ayush Ghalan (Sankata Club), Nawayug Shrestha (Tribhuvan Army Football Club), Dipak Raj Singh Thakuri (Satdobato Youth Club), Anjan Bista (Church Boys United), Manish Dangi (Sankata Club), Aashish Chaudhary (Church Boys United), Bimal Gharti Magar (Machhindra Football Club), Gillespye Jung Karki (Tribhuvan Army Football Club), Dinesh Henjan (Tribhuvan Army Football Club)
