As in the most other countries (India and the US notable exceptions), that coveted place goes to football. But the popularity of the beautiful game owes more to the satellite image beamed into our homes than the success of our national teams. Walk around Kathmandu, or any other major city in the country, and you are sure to spot youngsters sporting Beckham and Messi jerseys. As common is the sight of children tossing about a ball in lazy afternoon heat.
In Kathmandu, there are now sports bars—yes, even outside the tourist haven of Thamel—which carry English Premier League matches live. Saturday and the ‘super’ Sunday matches are delicacies to be enjoyed as much the freshly-baked tuna. At a chockablock bar in Putalisadak on Saturday, fans threatened to shout the roof off during the exhilarating encounter between Manchester United, arguably the most famous football team in the world, and Newcastle, which has shown much promise this season. On the same day, Barcelona fans must have torn their hairs off in frustration as they watched an unusually lackluster Barca side, Lionel Messi included, go down wimping against the lowly Gatafe in the Primera Division in Spain.
Nepal’s love affair with football is believed to have taken off after the 1986 World Cup featuring one Diego Maradona. It was the first time the biggest sporting event on the planet was broadcast live in Nepal. There is another interesting aside to the 1986 Cup for Nepalis. After winning the quarterfinal against England, the diminutive Argentine forward famously remarked that Argentina had won only because there were English men in the opposing squad, and not the (British) Gurkha soldiers. In another tribute to the brave Gurkhas, Maradona once told an interviewer that he could conquer the whole world if he had 100,000 Gurkha soldiers.
Predictable, then, why the Argentine squad is so popular among Nepali football fans; although the team’s free-flowing game no doubt has captured as many Nepali hearts.
Since 1986, the game’s popularity among the Nepali youth has only increased as satellite brings to them top-tier football from around the globe. And while the Nepali team might not qualify for the World Cup anytime soon—they will do well to make the cut for the Asian championship finals—the love for the beautiful game in the country will remain undiminished. BTW, shouldn’t van Persie be getting the top FIFA honor this year instead of Messi?
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