Nepal to host Challenge Cup finals

KATHMANDU, July 29: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) handed Nepal an opportunity to host the final round of AFC Challenge Cup 2012 in Kathmandu. The AFC executive committee meeting in Malaysia on Friday decided to let Nepal host the final round slated for April next year.



This is the first time that Nepal has got an opportunity to host a prestigious Asian event. The winner of the Challenge Cup automatically qualifies for the Asian Cup, the supreme football tournament of Asia.[break]



All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) issued a press release on Friday stating that the AFC has advised ANFA to meet all the criteria for hosting before the deadline set by the administration. AFC has advised to uplift the level of infrastructure and improve the ground conditions at the Dasharath Stadium.



Maldives and Palestine also had forwarded their bid to AFC to host the tournament. Nepal had successfully hosted the group stage matches of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 last April and the group stage matches of the 2010 edition.



The upcoming Challenge Cup is the fourth edition and Nepal is qualified for the final round. North Korea, Palestine, Philippines, India, Turkmenistan, Maldives and Tajikistan are the other teams qualified for the final round.



Nepal had reached the semifinal of the first edition of AFC in 2006 in Bangladesh, the final round in 2008 in India, but could not qualify for the third edition in 2010.

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