The final 16-member squad for women's handball at the 13th South Asian Games includes a player who did not even feature in the selections prompting former vice-captain Sadhana Bam, axed from the final selection, to file a written complain.

Bam, the captain of the Nepal Armed Police Force Club and the national team’s vice-captain during the 12th South Asian Games in 2016, has alleged the Association of foul play during the selection held on October 15 and also filed a complaint at the National Team Preparation Committee of the Games on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Dev Kumari Baskota who skipped the selection after she fractured her leg during the closed camp training on September 16 was 'surprisingly' included in the squad. According to Bam, she became the victim of a conspiracy of the selection committee. "I deserved a place in the last 16 but was left out of the final list mysteriously," said Bam. "How could a player who did not attend the selection tournament be picked in the final list!" she said adding that she even inquired about her exclusion with the team coach Krishna Shakya who has been conducting the closed camp training since August 6. "But he said that he was not involved in the selection process and I needed to ask about it with the selection committee."

Handball chief coach Himal Dahal, who is also the deputy director of the Training Committee at the National Sports Council and member of the selection committee, attributed that Baskota was picked despite skipping the selection but claimed of an obligation to pick the goalkeeper. "As there were only three goalkeepers in the squad since the preliminary selection, we picked her as per the international norms of having three goalkeepers in a squad.

"We have assigned a Portuguese coach for the training and selection process. We picked Baskota under his advice. Her injury is not that serious (hair crack) and what if one of the goalkeepers get injured during the game! In fact, Bam's exclusion does not have any relation with Baskota's inclusion in the team. While Bam is a back player, Baskota is a goalkeeper. So there is no point of foul play in selection. Instead, there were better players than Bam in her position," added Kharel.

Rim Bahadur Ranabhat, the coordinator of the National Team Preparation Committee, said that they had already received the application from Bam and they were inquiring about it. "We have already written to the related body (selection committee) and we are yet to receive a report on that," said Ranabhat. But it has already been four days since the application was filed on Sunday. When asked about the delay in reaching a decision on such a sensitive issue, he said: "We have to go through a mechanism and we will get a report within the next two to three days.”
Goalkeeper Baskota said that her plaster would be removed either Friday or Sunday and echoed Kharel that there was no relation of Bam's axing with her inclusion in the team as they play from different positions. "I am in the team because of my performance and I have been the first-choice goalkeeper for a long time," she said quoting the doctors who had given her a green signal to go to the pitch once her plaster was removed.