If the presence of huge crowds during the final and other knockout round matches were anything to go by, the tournament held after a long gap proved that football is still the favorite sport of the nation. [break]
However, the tournament lost its gleam after the withdrawal of one of the strong names in Nepali football arena -- Nepal Army Club -- from the tournament.
The negative impacts of the three-year dormant phase in Nepali football was also clearly seen in the tournament as it missed some prominent names like Basanta Gauchan, Balgopal Sahukhala and Prashant Giri, to name a few. Many of them are abroad to earn a living, a few are doing different jobs at home while still a few others like Nirajan Rayamajhi and Rajesh Shahi have gained much weight and are out of form.
ANFA´s decision to invite regional teams to the tournament proved to be worthless. The poor quality of regional teams affected the quality of the whole tournament. The Mid and Far-western Region alone conceded 31 goals in three matches played in the group stage. Eastern Region conceded the second highest 13 goals and Western 12. All of them including PLA Sports Club crashed out of the tournament from the group round itself.
Some may also find flaws in the tie-sheet draw. Rani Pokhari Corner Team (RCT) and Three Star, which were drawn in the same group in the league round, met in the semifinals. Machhindra (that crashed out in the semifinal at the hands of MMC) and MMC were also drawn in the same group.
The tournament also gave exposure to some of the young talents. More than half of the players of ´A´ division teams other than Nepal Police Club, APF, New Road Team (NRT) and Three Star Club were studded with young players.
Rohit Chand of Machhindra Club and Shiva Shrestha of MMC, who were adjudged best defender and midfielder respectively, were participating in the top flight domestic football for the first time. Likewise, Ganesh Khadka, Jagjeet Shrestha and others were also successful in showing their talent.
The tournament also became a good platform to judge the teams´ status for the upcoming league football scheduled to begin within a month. Coach Chhiring Lopsang of the runners up team, MMC, had said that he had taken the tournament as a practice for the league.
“We will come up with 4-5 new players in the national league, most probably foreign players,” said Lopsang. MMC had come up with only three old players including skipper Tashi Tshering, Sanjay Gurung and Sachin Shrestha in their squad in the British Gurkha Cup. Sanjay and Sachin did not play as first choice players in any of the matches for fitness reasons. MMC are one of the high profile teams in domestic football as they have won the national league six times.
ANFA has ruled that a player registered in any club three years earlier needs to play from the same club in the upcoming league, even though the club can hire unregistered players. The regulations make participation of two well-known players -- Deepen Shrestha and Yogesh Shrestha of Nepal Police Club -- uncertain in the national league unless the ANFA amends the provision. They did not play in the British Gurkha Club as well.
The duo was registered with Jawalakhel Club in the previous league held three years ago. They were enrolled in the police team in the meantime. That´s why they were barred from playing in the British Gurkha Cup.
The tournament also featured some of the worst scenes in the Nepali football fraternity. Three Star player Prabin Karki assaulted assistant referee Madhusudan Khanal during a group B match against Boys Union Club after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. He was later slapped with a year´s ban for his conduct.
Likewise, the tournament also featured one of the fastest goals in the history of Nepali football as Mani Pandit of Machhindra scored in the 14th second against PLA Sports Club in a group C match.
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