Football in Bhutan
Football in Bhutan | |
---|---|
Country | Bhutan |
Governing body | Bhutan Football Federation |
National team(s) | men's national team women's national team national futsal team various youth teams |
National competitions | |
Dzongkhag (District) leagues Jigme Dorji Wangchuk Memorial Gold Cup BFF President's Cup Coronation Championship National Women's Championship Women's National League Qualifier Women's District League National Futsal League (sometimes) | |
International competitions | |
AFC Futsal Championship FIFA Futsal World Cup |
However, although this was nominally a national league, it was in reality merely a competition for teams based in Thimphu. This championship developed into its current three-tiered format, but remained resolutely Thimphu-focused until an annual, true national competition, Bhutan Premier League, was established in 2012 (as National League). Due to financial and transportation issues, this competition has only added at most another three teams to the overall number competing. Throughout the history of football in Bhutan, its clubs have remained in the third tier of continental competition within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the AFC President's Cup, and have more often than not struggled to compete in this competition. They have had slightly more success within their regional federation, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), but again have consistently been recognised as one of the weaker teams.
The national team was ranked by FIFA as the worst in the world, without a single ranking point, and fourth worst (including non-FIFA teams) in the all-time Elo ratings. The team played irregularly, mainly competing in the SAFF Championship or the qualifying rounds of the AFC Challenge Cup. The 2018 FIFA World Cup was their first attempt at qualifying. They have beaten Sri Lanka in the first round 2–1 on aggregate and have qualified for the second round.
History
Beginnings
In the same way that there is uncertainty around the manner in which football as a sport in general came to be, so there is equal uncertainty around how the game was ultimately brought to Bhutan.[1] During the colonial period, Bhutan, although it had signed treaties with the government of India which ceded control of its defence and foreign relations to the British, continued to function as an independent state and was never under the direct rule of the British government in India.[2] Whereas Indians were introduced to football by the British government, the lack of a permanent British presence in Bhutan meant that foreign sports were not played there.[2] The arrival of football in Bhutan was very closely linked with the opening of schools in Haa and Paro in the 1950s, as foreign teachers, mainly from India, but some Europeans were recruited.[3] The Bhutan Football Federation note that in the beginning there was little in the way of formal facilities or equipment and the game was played on stone covered pitches with a ball made out of a bundle of clothes.[1] The game continued to grow as more Bhutanese went abroad, mainly to India, to study and helped increase the popularity of the sport upon their return, though the game was still considered to be just that and was not really developed during this period.[1]
The main centres for football during the 1960s were
1980s
Although the game has been played in Bhutan for over eighty years,[4] Football as an organised, competitive sport came to Bhutan comparatively late in the global history of the game. The national men's team played their first match only in 1982 in the ANFA cup against Nepal, which was lost 3–1.[5] Somewhat counter-intuitively, a formal national federation was only established after this, with the Bhutan Football Association being founded in 1983,[6] though its name was quickly changed to the Bhutan Football Federation later that year.[6]
Under the auspices of this organisation, and without any apparent organised competition,[7] the national team competed unsuccessfully in two editions of the South Asian Games football tournament, being beaten in both their games each time without scoring a single goal.[5]
The first recorded national championship was not held until
1990s
The establishment of a formal football league appears to have done little for the popularity of the organised game in Bhutan however, as no records exist to indicate that any form of organised competition occurred between 1986 and 1996.[7] After the initial season, the popularity of the game waned and was only revived in the mid-1990s by the monk Khyentse Norbu.[7] However, during this time, the federation was admitted to the AFC in 1993.[6]
Organised domestic football was finally re-established in
Television was banned in Bhutan until 1999,[10] but prior to this the royal administration granted special exemption to a number of venues, mainly those who already had a sporting association, to show broadcasts of the 1998 World Cup. These proved to be extremely popular, with people walking some distance to see the matches, their first exposure, not just to TV, but also to foreign football.[11]
2000s
The turn of the century saw the national team become affiliated to FIFA,
The following year saw the formal establishment of the national championship as the A-Division, with
The national team also recorded their first ever win after twenty years of competition when they defeated
In 2003, the league system grew by a further tier to incorporate a C-Division as well.[18] About 12 to 14 C division clubs were expected to participate. Based on the performance in the national league, the two best teams from C division are promoted to the B division. Likewise, two B division teams move up to A division. On the other hand, the weakest team in each division is demoted to a lower division, creating a genuine league system for the first time in the country.[18] In addition to this, the national team enjoyed one of their most successful seasons, when they qualified top of their group for the 2004 Asian Cup, defeating Guam 6–0 and drawing 0–0 with Mongolia.[19] The victory over Guam is their highest scoring victory to date and the two match unbeaten run their current best set of results.[5]
In the next few years football in Bhutan stagnated. The domestic leagues quickly lost their participants from outside of Thimphu and
The national team played sporadically and with little success during the first half of the 2000s,[5] a 0–0 draw against Brunei being their only positive result.[22] They were however, to produce their best performance in any tournament to date in the 2008 SAFF Championship, coming second in their group and losing in the semi-finals against India 2–1 following a last minute goal in extra time.[23]
Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, the A-Division struggled to establish itself as a genuinely competitive league. Although Transport United faded following their fourth consecutive title in 2008,
2010s
Following on from their comparative success at the 2008 SAFF Championship, the national team found themselves unable to push on and build on their achievements and have yet to register a victory since. A number of friendly matches against Nepal have produced some close encounters, a 2–1 loss in 2009[5] and 1–0 and 2–1 losses in a pair of back to back friendlies in 2011.[5][28] Indeed, outside of these three friendlies, in their twelve official matches between their performance in the 2008 SAFF Championship and the corresponding 2013 edition, they only managed to score two goals, one through Nawang Dhendup in a 4–1 loss to Bangladesh[29] and the second from Chencho Gyeltshen in an 8–1 thrashing at the hands of Afghanistan.[30]
In 2011, the Bhutan Football Federation intended to redevelop the domestic league structure, attempting to create a true national league to encourage participation from teams outside of Thimphu. Unfortunately, this did not occur that season,
Bhutan made their first attempt to qualify for the
Financial situation
Despite the fact that Bhutan has been one of the weakest teams in the world from both domestic and national perspective, the sport continues to enjoy huge popularity throughout the country. When the World Cup trophy was brought to Bhutan, prior to the
Financial restrictions also have a detrimental effect on the progress of the national team. The Nu 4,000 stipend paid to international footballers was withdrawn by Bhutan Football Federation, and players such as
However, the situation has been much better since 2015.League system
Bhutan Premier League
The Bhutan Premier League is the highest level of football in Bhutan. Established in 2012 as National League, it replaced the A-Division as the competition providing Bhutan's participant in continental competitions. The league currently consists of qualifiers (Super League) which provide Premier League spots, in addition to a selection of regional clubs. The teams play each other on a home and away basis and the national champion was earned a place in the AFC Cup.[41] It was rebranded as BPL in 2019.
BPL Qualifiers
Prior to the commencement of the National League, the A-Division was the lone highest level of football in Bhutan and previously provided Bhutan's entrant to the AFC President's Cup. It was rebranded as Bhutan Super League in 2019. Another system change introduced the BPL Qualifiers in 2022.
Pyramid structure
Level |
League(s) / Division(s) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Bhutan Premier League | |||||
2 (qualifiers) |
BPL Qualifiers | |||||
2 |
|
Men's national teams
Senior team
The Bhutan national men's football team represents Bhutan in international football and play their home games at the national stadium, Changlimithang. It is one of the younger national teams in the world having played its first match in 1982. The team are currently one of the very weakest in the world and are, as of 17 July 2014 ranked 46th and last in the
Junior teams
For a period of time, the Bhutan Football Federation ran an U-19 men's team. The team did not compete on the international stage, but did take part in a number of editions of the A-Division. They won the B-Division in 2005
A U-18 team began competing in the A-Division in 2014, although they did not meet with much success in their debut season, losing all their games but one, their only victory being a 4–2 victory over
The Bhutan national under-17 football team represents
Futsal
The national team first took part in competitive futsal in the 2005 AFC Futsal Championship preliminary round, but suffered heavy losses.[49] Prior to entering this competition, Bhutan was one of only 11 members of the AFC not to have introduced the sport.[50] The eleven-a-side team spent a month at the Sports Complex Basketball Court in Thimphu practicing the game, with two Thai coaches, Mr. Somjit and Mr. Song Pong, in preparation for the tournament.[50] Following this, as the promotion of futsal by national associations was mandated by the AFC, the Bhutan Football Federation expressed a desire to introduce the game into schools using pre-existing basketball and volleyball courts.[50]
Significant criticism was directed at the Bhutan Football Federation in national media about their approach to the promotion of futsal in the years following the poor performance in the AFC Futsal Championship.
A national team was selected at very short notice for the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Incheon, Korea, in 2013.[55] In their first game, they were soundly beaten 29–1 by Thailand, despite scoring through Dawa Dhendup in the first minute.[56] The team is currently ranked 150th in the world futsal rankings.[55]
Women's football
Initially, Bhutan entered a national team to the
Women's national team
The Bhutan women's national football team represents Bhutan in international women's football and was formed very recently.[61] The team is currently technically unranked as they have been inactive for more than eighteen months.[62] However, they have more ranking points currently than Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Botswana, the Comoros and the Turks and Caicos Islands, so unlike the men's team could not be considered the worst in the world based on ranking points.[62] Their highest ranking to date is 115 in December 2013.[62]
Football stadiums in Bhutan
Stadium | Capacity | City | Tenants | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
Changlimithang Stadium | 15,000 | Thimphu | Bhutan national football team |
See also
References
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