The second leg of Nepal's World Cup and Asia Cup joint qualifiers match against Kuwait is set to be played at a neutral venue. Nepal’s national football governing body made an announcement to this effect on Thursday.
“We regret to inform that Nepal will play Kuwait at a neutral venue in their upcoming Asian Qualifiers Group B ties for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 clash. As per the schedule, Nepal will host Kuwait on 19 November, 2019,” the All Nepal Football Association said in a Facebook post.
Based on the original fixtures published by the Asian Football Confederation, Nepal was scheduled to host Kuwait on September 5, Taiwan on September 10 and Jordan on October 15 after playing against Australia in Australia. However, the home fixtures were flipped because of the lack of an international stadium fit enough to host the matches.
Ramesh Silwal, member secretary of the National Sports Council, had reiterated that Dashrath Stadium, the sporting complex, will be completed on time for the joint qualifier match against Kuwait. The stadium is undergoing renovation after suffering damage in the April 2015 earthquake.
The tournament committee of the AFC which inspected the stadium on November 5 adjudged it ‘unfit after failing to meet international standards’ to host the Group B match between Nepal and Kuwait.
This fiasco also raises questions if the stadium would be ready just in time for the 13th South Asian Games to be hosted by Nepal in Kathmandu and Pokhara from December 1 to 10.
“We have requested the AFC and FIFA to shift the match to Changlimithang Stadium in Bhutan,” said ANFA in a press release on Thursday.
ANFA spokesperson Kiran Rai told the Post that a decision is yet to be taken on the neutral venue. “It is only Bhutan that we have proposed as a neutral venue. We expect a decision to be made by FIFA and the AFC in this regard by Friday,” said Rai.
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