British Gurkha Cup, scheduled to begin from April 15, will be the curtain raiser of the new season and feature all 16 A division clubs including Madhyapur Youth Association (MYA) and Sankata, the clubs promoted from B division league and remaining 14 teams which are already in the list of A division clubs, confirmed Indraman Tuladhar, the CEO of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). [break]
The current season of domestic football ended on March 13, the last day of Nepali month of Falgun.
Similarly, the A division league which was scheduled to be held from April 23 has been postponed to November after holding discussions with the clubs.
"The decision to postpone the league was made following a meeting with A division clubs," Tuladhar said, adding, "The decision was made with the assumption that the presence of spectators in November will be higher than in April and May. The final date for the league is yet to be decided.
Tuladhar also cited another technical reason for postponing the league: ANFA giving continuity to work permit for foreigner players for the second year. Nepali clubs mostly hire foreign players only for league tournaments.
"If the league begins from April, the clubs will be forced to get work permit for two seasons as the fiscal year in Nepal ends during the mid of July. The A division league and national league can´t finish before the fiscal year, thus, clubs will have to bear extra financial burden."
Though the transfer window opens for 12 weeks from April 5, the football governing body has asked the clubs to register at least 16 players by March 29. "The clubs could register 40 players in total including five foreign players. But they must register the names of 16 players by March 29 and others during transfer window," Tuladhar said.
Meanwhile, ANFA has decided to hold the National League a month after completion of the A division league. Similarly, there has not been changes in the format of National League with top eight teams of the A division league and two teams from A division districts vying for the title in home and away format.
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