In the mid-1980s, FIFA provided financial assistance and sent a number of coaches to help Nepal launch its firstyouth programme, which was geared towards spotting talent at the grassroots level and providing young players with the necessary know-how, both on and off the pitch. The initial five-year plan helped half the players groomed under the first youth programme to find a place in the national side, and the team that won the 2 gold medals in the first and sixth South Asian Federation Games mostly consisted of the players from that youth programme.
Youth investment
asked FIFA for financial assistance to check the downslide of Nepalese domestic football and in 1998, FIFA agreed to donate funds through its Financial Assistance Programme, thereby allowing ANFA to construct a secretariat along with a football pitch and a hostel in Kathmandu to launch its youth development programme. The two-year intensive training period for the youth players selected in 1998 produced a number of skilful players, who recently participated in the ninth South Asian Games. The same team had earlier topped its group in the Asian Cuppreliminary round in March 2004. However despite reaching the finals tournament of the 2000 AFC U-17 Championship in Vietnam, Nepal refused to participate in a biological age test, and as a result was banned from the 2002 AFC U-17 Championship. This, along with the Maoist uprising left manager Stephen Constantine to resign. In 2002, endeavours to develop football received a further fillip when FIFA awarded a Goal programme to Nepal. Thanks to this project, ANFA has constructed regional football centres that include hostels, office secretariats and playing grounds in three major towns in three different regions. ANFA built these centres to focus on spotting hidden talent in villages or schools around the nation. These centres will also provide the necessary coaching and physical training, and in the long-term, the nation as a whole will benefit with more regional football sides on a par with the clubs of Kathmandu.
Recent years
Nepal was fined by the Asian Football Confederation of fielding over-age players during the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship. Since the fine, the All Nepal Football Association has put in place several necessary age checks as part of selection/trials. The most recent team has qualified for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, making it the first Nepal U-16 team to achieve a back-to-back qualification in history. However, the team was then excluded from the tournament due to player Manish Karki failing a MRI bone test. Nepal was penalized and ruled to have forfeited all three of their qualification group matches where the ineligible player was fielded by a 3–0 scoreline.
Upendra Man Singh