The football final

Namaste!

Those people who know me well will be aware that I am not particularly interested in football. You will therefore be very surprised to learn that this week I went to watch a match here in Besisahar!  One of my new Nepali friends had suggested an outing to this match, and I agreed to accompany her. 

This wasn’t any old match however, but the grand final of a serious Nepali regional knockout competition.  The final was between Manang, a town high in the Annapurna National Park and Samana club from Turture, Tanahu, a town at the bottom of the valley, half way to Kathmandu from here.

We arrived at the football ground, a large flat pitch with earth surface, carved out in a valley at the northern end of town, sandwiched between the surrounding hills.  I had noticed many people walking in this direction in the past hour, but was surprised to see just how many spectators were there. Thousands were crowded around the pitch boundary, on every available surface on the surrounding houses including the roofs, and seated, line above line, up the steep hillsides that surround the football ground. The towns people had turned out in force to support this big occasion. There were even a row of people spectating from the very top of  a hill overlooking the ground; unless they all had binoculars they would have had great difficulty following the ball from that distance!

We managed to push our way through to an area near a tented trophy table and VIP seated area, where we thought we might be able to get some view of the pitch. Suddenly we were beckoned through into the VIP section by the policeman on duty there, and shown to seats. It appears that as a ‘biddeshi’ (foreigner) I had priority status, a nice thought but it actually made me feel very uncomfortable and out of place. However on reflection, there wasn’t a chance we would have been able to see the match from anywhere else nearby!

The first drama of the afternoon was that the team from Samana was late arriving.  An announcement over the loudspeaker told the spectators that if the team did not turn up within fifteen minutes then the game, cup, medals and substantial prize money would be awarded to Manang. With minutes to spare the Samana team arrived and then seemed to take an age to change into their kit. Nepalis are a very patient people and they seemed to take the delay in their stride, without the anger which would have been apparent with this sort of delay at a European Cup Final!

At last the band struck up, the most noticeable instruments being the very long curved horns, about 1.5 metres long.  Some speeches followed and a welcome ceremony with kata scarves presented to all the visiting officials from the competing football clubs, which had been already knocked out of the competition. 

Before the match could begin the band, officials and the two teams marched in parade style right around the pitch, to applause that could be heard over the shrill horns.  












Also in the parade was a FIFA banner proclaiming to all that 'My Game is Fair Play'.  This banner, along with the Nepali flag, was carried around the pitch by young girls in tracksuits. (Good to see girls involved if only in this token way.)

As for the match, I'm no football expert so can hardly comment, other than to say that the two teams seemed very evenly matched in the first half, Manang had the ball at their end much more during the second half and neither team scored during the match. Extra time was given and the reds, Samana, scored after about 8 minutes. 

What celebrating there was at the end of the match by the winners.  They danced around the pitch in joy, before their supporters mobbed them.
Later in the evening I heard the coaches carrying team and supporters travelling jubilantly through the town - horns hooting, shouting and cheering.

The only other incident of note during the match was a pitch invasion by a hen. Much to the delight and cheers of the spectators, the players spent several minutes chasing this bird, unable to catch her.  At last a young boy, maybe the owner, captured the hen and removed her from the pitch. Now you wouldn't see that happen in a cup final in the UK!!