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| Kathmandu Friday March 22, 2002 Chaitra 09, 2058. |
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Goal Project nears
its kick off in Nepal
By Purushottam Kattel
KATHMANDU, March 21 : It was a
red-letter year for the Nepali football in 1999 when the football’s world governing
body FIFA included Nepal for its ambitious Goal Project aimed at the development and
promotion of the game.
FIFA had earmarked 110 countries, of
its 204 members, for the Goal Project at its Extraordinary Congress in Los Angeles in
1999. In the first phase, four countries from the SAARC region, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal
and the Maldives, were named for the project.
While the other countries have
already started the project, Nepal, engaged in a leadership scuffle, was denied the FIFA
grant. With the existence of longstanding dispute in place, it seemed that the much
talked-about Goal Project is getting away from Nepal.
However, to the relief of All Nepal
Football Association (ANFA) and football enthusiasts alike, FIFA announced on November 14
to release its fund for the project in Nepal. And it was confirmed by the visit of FIFA
Goal Project Development Officer Manilal Fernando last January.
"Nepal, despite being the first
country in the whole of South Asia to win the trust of FIFA and Asian Football
Confederation (AFC), failed to gain momentum owing to domestic controversies," said
Ganesh Thapa, the president of FIFA-affiliated ANFA.
"Better late than never,"
Thapa continued. "FIFA and AFC have shown confidence on us."
In the first phase, ANFA has
proposed to construct three football centres in three development regions: Sunsari or
Jhapa in the Eastern Region, Lalitpur in the Central Region and Rupandehi in the Western
Region.
Authorities at district and regional
levels have also been cooperative to ANFA.
Lalitpur Sub-metropolis has agreed
with ANFA to provide 70 ropanis of land, currently being used by the local Chysal Youth
Club, on lease basis for 50 years. Similar arrangement has been made in the case of
Rupandehi while the ANFA officials are yet to choose between Sunsari and Jhapa for the
Eastern Region. Sunsari looks the best bet, though. "Both areas are good," said
Lok Bahadur Shahi, ANFA general-secretary. "Sunsari is in our priority list as
it’s located at the middle of the region.
"But we are keen to include
both the sites, as one will find its place in the second phase of the project," he
added.
Nepal, according to ANFA officials,
would be getting the first instalment of US$ 400,000 out of the project’s total
amount of one million dollars. The allocation of rest of the amount depends on the success
of the first phase.
According to Thapa, upon the
completion of the first three centres, similar facilities would be established in
Mid-western, Far-western and Eastern Regions. The project, besides giving young talents
access to better coaching, would also offer a better environment of football through a
sound infrastructure. A hostel for the trainees and experts, playing ground, seminar hall,
local schooling.
The project would also cater to the
renovation and construction of football pitches, perfect administration, staff and coaches
training, sports medicine refereeing, tuition centre, talent promotion are the
multidimensional aspects on which ANFA should focus to achieve FIFA’s goal.
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