When asked about the excitement to play in the inaugural SAFF Women’s Club Championship, the visiting clubs present during the pre-tournament conference at the ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur, on Thursday, had the same response: ‘We are excited to witness the craze for women’s football in Nepal’.

The SAFF Women’s Club Championship is an initiative from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) to bring together the best teams of the women’s leagues of the SAARC countries, and give a platform for competitive football.

As part of the initiation, the inaugural season is seeing clubs from five SAFF countries. Nepal’s 2024 ANFA Women’s League champions Armed Police Force (APF) Club; Nasrin Sports Academy, winner of 2023-24 Bangladesh Women’s Football League; Transport United FC, runners-up of 2024 Bhutan Women’s National League; East Bengal FC, winner of 2024-25 Indian Women’s League; and Karachi City FC, winner of 2024 National Women Football Championship of Pakistan.

As per the tournament format, the five teams will be competing in a single round-robin league format, and the top two teams will be competing for the trophy. The six-day tournament, which begins on December 5 (Friday) at the Kathmandu-based Dasharath Stadium will see two matches a day in the league stage, followed by two rest days after each match day. The final will be played on December 20.

‘Excited to play in Nepal’

Except for East Bengal, the four teams’ head coaches and skippers were present in the pre-tournament conference. “East Bengal could not be here on time as their flight was delayed due to fog in Delhi,” informed Ayush Khadka, head of media and communications at SAFF. The Indian champions landed in Kathmandu a couple of hours after the conference concluded at the ANFA Complex.

The other three visiting teams expressed excitement to be playing in Nepal.

“There is a big footballing culture here in Nepal. We have experienced it during their games when we have played for the national team here [Dasharath Stadium],” said Maria Khan, skipper of Karachi City who is also the skipper of the Pakistani national women’s team. “Now, we are looking forward to experiencing the craze through the club competition.”

Karachi City have five foreign players in their squad, as per head coach Adeel Rizki. Rizki led Karachi City to their first-ever women’s league title on their debut season. Formed in 2021, Karachi City debuted in the top-tier league, which faced a three-season hiatus after the 12th edition in 2019-20, in 2024.

Further, the 2024 season saw the highest number of participation in its 20-year history. With 24 teams in the season, divided into four sections based on their location, Karachi City went on to lift the title unbeaten. When asked how big the pool was for women footballers in the country, Rizki said, “The number of clubs participating in the league does not give a clear picture. There is still less football in Pakistan. But the scenario seems to be changing of late.”

According to Khan, Karachi City have come to Nepal not only as a club. “We are representing our country as well,” she said. “We are here to win.”

Similarly, Transport United of Bhutan have come to Nepal with their squad comprising 90 per cent of national team players. When asked how they approached the SAFF club tournament as the team has been a dominant force with less competition from other clubs due to the squad they have, head coach Yeshi Wangchuk said, “It is difficult to find women footballers in the country. Thus, the SAFF club tournament will be a good platform to test our might.”

Sunita Rai, skipper of Transport United, said that she has found Nepal as the place with the craziest football fans. “It is so great to see the love of the fans for football, especially the women’s team,” Rai said. “We have trained for a couple of weeks before arriving here. And we are ready to put up a good fight throughout the tournament.”

The winner of the 2024 Bhutan Women’s National League was Royal Thimphu College, who registered their third straight title. “Royal Thimphu College played in the AFC Women’s Champions League. And the Bhutan Football Federation preferred sending the runners-up for the SAFF tournament,” Khadka told the Post.

Likewise, Bangladesh’s Nasrin Sports Academy are also coming to Kathmandu with four national team players. Bangladesh have had a good time in Kathmandu in recent years, having won the SAFF Women’s Championship in 2022 and 2024.

“We have experienced players like Sabina Khatun in the squad,” said Nasrin’s head coach Monir Hossain. “We can say there is pressure coming to Nepal, to achieve the same accolades as the national team. And we are taking it in to give our best to continue the achievements in Nepal.”

However, except for the four national team players, Nasrin is composed of U20 and U17 players. “But I am taking on the full responsibility,” Nasrin’s skipper Sanjida Akter said. “We are also representing our nation, but I have told the youngsters to not take pressure, enjoy the games and give their best.”

Fatigue a ‘major concern’ for APF

Captained by Anita Basnet, Armed Police Force (APF) are a dominant force in the Nepali women’s club football scene. Filled with players who are regulars in the national team and youngsters who will be the future stars of the country, APF have won the league for four consecutive seasons since 2017-18.

Thus, whenever the senior women’s team is travelling for matches, APF sits almost vacant. It also means that APF players are mostly busy throughout the year, either playing for the country or the club. While it suggests they play a lot of football, it also means that they do not get the time to rest well.

“The players have been extremely busy with football,” said APF’s head coach Jibesh Pandey. “Ever since July, after the friendlies between Nepal and Thailand, we have not had the chance for proper training as a team.”

Pandey added, “The players went to play in Shillong, Shikkim and then to Jhapa. We also lost the final in Jhapa to Nepal Police. To forget the loss, we are eager to show our abilities in the SAFF tournament by winning it.”

Meanwhile, when asked about the impact of fatigue on players, skipper Basnet said, “We do not have two of our key players—Gita Rana and Sabita Rana Magar—due to injuries, which was due to consistent games. It is great to see so much football, but it also has had its toll on the players when there are not sufficient days to rest and recover.”

Basnet also clarified that the team did not have the time to train together as the national team returned to Kathmandu after a tri-nation friendly in Indonesia on Wednesday midnight. “Now, we have a match on Friday,” Basnet said. “But we will not let it affect our performances. We want to win.”