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24 June 2000: Manang Marsyangdi clinched the Martyr's Memorial League title after drawing against Rani Pokhari 2-2. MMC have 28 points with one round to play while second place RCT have 23 points.

22 June 2000: The ongoing Martyr's Memorial League gained further credibility as Niranjan Rayamajhi scored a triple-hat-trick (9 goals) for Rani Pokhari against Bansbari Club. RCT won the match 10 - 2.

22 June 2000: Rumors have it that highly successful national team coach Stephen Constantine may be leaving Nepal for greener pastures, as the ANFA has not been very supportive of him and too involved in their own internal political battles.

15 June 2000: Nepal's under 16 national team qualified for the Asian Under 16 Championships to be held in Vietnam in September after they played Uzbekistan to a nil-nil draw. Nepal were level with the Uzbeks on 7 points after completing all three preliminary round matches, but Nepal advanced by virtue of a better goal difference. This is the first time Nepal at any level have reached the final stages of a continental competition.

10 June 2000: The details are a bit sketchy but is seems as though Nepal’s Supreme Court has blocked a possible secret vote on the successor to Ganesh Thapa, president of the ANFA. The vote was to extend Thapa's tenure for one more term.
Geeta Rana, head of the Women’s Football Committee and principal of Galaxy Public School is Thapa's main challenger for the seat.
In a related story, leading footballers have come together and expressed that they do not want ANFA to be politicized and have demanded that the current administration continue to be in charge. The footballers fear someone who is not inside the footballing circle will ruin football in Nepal and thus do not want Geeta Rana as president of the ANFA.

28 May 2000: Nepal will not send a representative to either of the two Asian Club competitions next year. Nepal did not participate last year either.

28 May 2000: Nepal look as one of the favorites to get a one million dollar football grant from FIFA as a part of the FIFA Goal Project. Some inside sources say it is all but a done deal.

23 April 2000: RCT beat Manang Marsyangdi 2-0 to win thePasang Lhamu Sherpa Memorial Football Tournament

15 April 2000: Yet another "mickey-mouse" tournament gets underway in Kathmandu. The latest entitled Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Memorial Football Tournament. The tournament features Three Star Club, Sankata BSC and a host of second tier club sides.

1 April 2000: Nepal will host all the Asia Group Six World Cup 2002 qualifiers next March. Nepal are in the group along with Iraq, Kazakhstan and Macau.

30 March 2000: After a two year break the Martyr's League will once again resume with twelve teams in the first division. The league will start on April 27 and be played on a round-robin basis. The top six teams from the league will go to the "Premier League" (Stay tuned for details), while the bottom two teams will be relegated. There is also talk of a proper transfer system to be set-up to help both players and clubs.

30 March 2000: Friends Club were fined NR4500 and Sujeet KC was banned for one month by the ANFA for a scuffle that happened after the match with Mahendra Police Club in the recently concluded Khukri Gold Cup.

26 March 2000: Mahendra Police won the Khukri Gold Cup 1-0 over Manang Marsyangdi on a spectacular 30 meter goal by Hari Khadka. The Khukri Gold Cup is Nepal's richest tournament with the winner receiving RS200,000.

26 March 2000: Bajan Milicevic, a Yugoslav, has been appointed chief coach for the ANFA Academy. He used to play for Partizen Belgrade and had stints at Chelsea and Swansea according to the press release.

26 March 2000: Stephen Constantine received one of Nepal's highest honors, The Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Baahu Medal, from the King. The award was primarily given to him for leading the National Team to the finals of the SAF Games and for wearing the national dress on the way there. It was said that he was the first National Team coach to ever wear the national dress during a match.

9 March 2000: The Khukuri Cup, Nepal's richest club football tournament, begins its final round today. Eight teams will participate in the final round which is to be played on a league-cum-knock-out format. The participating teams are: Manang Marsyangdi, Three Star Club, Mahendra Police and Sankata BSC in group "A" and Tribhuvan Army, Rani Pokhari, Friends Club and Sunsari in group "B."

9 March 2000: Mahendra Police Club defeated Youth Sports Club of Kailali to win the WFC -Mangla Devi women's football tournament.

29 February 2000: The Khukuri Cup, which has now turned into perhaps Nepal's premier football tournament, got underway today in Nepalgunj and Chitwan. The tournament will feature the top Kathmandu clubs along with select district sides.

29 February 2000: The Mangala Devi Women's football tournament, the most prestigious tournament of its kind, got under way today at the National Stadium. Eight club teams from various parts of Nepal are competing in the final round of matches in Kathmandu.

27 February 2000: Mahendra Police Club defeated New Road Team 3-1 to win the Martyr Tej Bahadur Amatya Gold Cup. Hari Khadka, Sal Bahadur Karki and Dev Narayan Chaudhary scored for MPC while Puran Limbu found the net for NRT.

24 February 2000: Former Nepal National and Olympic coach Torsten Spitler will be coaching Malaysian first division side Perak for the upcoming season.

15 February 2000: Basanta Thapa, Naresh Joshi and Nirajan Rayamajhi scored Nepal's goals in the 3-0 victory over Bhutan. Nepal subsequently lost their next game to Turkmenistan 0-5. Nepal lost to Yemen 0-3 in their opener and will face Kuwait in their final match on the 18th of February.

1 February 2000: Deepak Amatya announced his retirement from the National Team at the conclusion of the ANFA Coca-Cola International Cup. Other notable absences from the Nepali side chosen for the Asian Cup Qualifiers include Dev Narayan Chaudhary and Dilli Ram Shrestha.

1 February 2000: Here is the preliminary squad list for Nepal's Asian Cup 2000 qualifiers exclusively sent to the NFH by National Team Coach Constantine: B.MAHARJAN, U.MAN SINGH(capt), N.JOSHI, H.KHADKA, S.TULADHAR, A.SUBBHA, B.THAPA, B.GAUCHAN, R.SHRESTHA, S.SHRESTHA, R.SHAHI, S.TAMANG, D.LAMA, S.JOSHI, N.RAYMAJI, P.RANAMAGER, R.RAYMAJI, A.NEMBANG, R.K.SHRESTHA, K.THAPA. (Please excuse any minor errors as this is a list compiled straight from the email sent to the NFH)

31 January 2000: Nepal showed that it has a long way to go in footballing terms as the Korean university outfit won the ANFA Coca-Cola International Cup 2-0 over Nepal Red, a side packed with Nepali internationals.

30 January 2000: The ANFA has launched an ambitious project to set-up football academies in all five regions of Nepal. According to the plan every two years 100 boys aged 10-12 will be selected for the five academies and given proper training and schooling to represent Nepal at the youth levels and hopefully the national team. The ANFA is hopeful that the project will help Nepal qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

29 January 2000: According to National Team Coach Stephen Constatine, Nepal will be hosting their Under-16 group qualifying games in June/July.

29 January 2000: Nepal Red defeated Thai Air Force, 3-0, in the semi-finals of the ANFA Coca-Cola International tournament.

28 January 2000: Nepal Blue lost to the Korean university side Soongsil, 3-0, in the semi-finals of the ANFA Coca-Cola International tournament.

27 January 2000: Nepal Blue lost to the Thai Air Force side 2-0.

26 January 2000: Nepal Red beat Bhutan 1-0 in what was considered by all as a very disappointing performance by the Nepali booters.

25 January 2000: Royal Drugs Ltd. won the Bikash Running Shield, one of the bigger football tournaments in Nepal. The tournament is held annually in Chitwan district.

25 January 2000: Nepal Blue, a side composed of junior national team players defeated Bangladesh Army 2-0 today in the ongoing ANFA Coca-Cola International Invitational football tournament.

24 January 2000: Nepal Red, a side composed of senior national team players held a visiting Korean university side to 0-0 draw today in the ongoing ANFA Coca-Cola International Invitational football tournament.

19 January 2000: The Women's FC of Nepal is organizing a national knock-out tourrnament that will involve the 15 districts with established FCs and the Nepal Police. The tournament called the "Mangladevi League" will start on the 25th of January and conclude on February 20th.

16 January 2000: The list of tournaments going on at the moment are endless as in Chitwan the Bikash Running Shield is also currently taking place.

16 January 2000: Naresh Joshi continued his fine form as he scored a hat-trick to lead Rani Pokhari (RCT) over Tribhuvan Army in the finals of the Mahendra Gold Cup. RCT came back to win it 3-2.

15 January 2000: The ANFA has organized a six team international tournament that will pit two select Nepali sides against teams from Thailand, South Korea, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Thailand's representative will be their league champions Air Force, the South Korean side is a university team, the Bangladeshi side is a low running club side in their top flight and Bhutan will be sending their full national team. The tournament, called the ANFA Coca-Cola International Invitational football tournament, will start on January 20th and finish on the 30th.

9 January 2000: It has been reported that Hari Khadka is actually contracted with Calcutta giants Mohan Bagan at the moment, though he is currently in Nepal nursing an injury. Khadka is the highest paid Nepali footballer having signed a two month contract with Mohan Bagan for IC 75,000. Khadka played in Mahendra Police's matches in the Birthday Cup thus raising some questions about this report.

9 January 2000: Manang Marsyangdi hammered Mahendra Police 6-1 to lift the Birthday Cup, one of Nepal's premier club tournaments.

4 January 2000: Deepak Amatya won the Rupak Memorial Footballer Award for his lifetime contribution to Nepali football. Raju Shakya, Umesh Pradhan and Mani Shah have previously won this award. Deepak is currently in Nepal after suffering an injury while playing in India.

27 December 1999: After a two-year hiatus, the Birthday Cup, one of Nepal's premier football competition is under way. This year there are 19 participants including the 12 Martyr League sides, 3 foreign teams and 4 non-Kathmandu clubs.

27 December 1999: Hari Khadka, Upendra Man Singh and Deepak Amatya are all playing for clubs in the Indian National League at the moment. Khadka is with Mahindra and Mahindra while the other two are playing with Dempo.

12 December 1999: Mahendra Police continued its fine form by capturing the Budha Subba Gold Cup, one of Nepal's premier club tournaments. They beat a select side called "Dharan Blue" 1-0 in the finals. Hari Khadka scored the lone goal for MPC.

8 December 1999: Nepal had little luck at the 2002 World Cup draw as they were grouped with Asian powers Iraq, immerging powers Kazakhstan and one of the tougher #4 seeds in Macau. Nepal is placed in Asia Group 6. Only the winner of the group will advance to the second round.

1 December 1999: Mahendra Police Club won the ANFA Coca-Cola National League on a solitary goal by Dev Narayan Chaudhary against arch rivals Tribhuvan Army. The victory nets them a whopping US$3000 and the right to play in one of the two Asian club competitions.

21 November 1999: Nepal jumped ten spots in the latest Fifa World Rankings. It is more due to the inactiveness of the teams ahead of Nepal than the SAF Game victories against Bhutan, Pakistan and the Maldives.

21 November 1999: The final round of the ANFA Coca-Cola National League gets under way today. Eight teams have been divided into two groups of four with the top two teams advancing to the semi-finals.

21 November 1999: Michael Platini will be accompanying Sepp Blatter on his visit to Nepal.

17 November 1999: Nepal's Women's Team wrapped-up their Asian Championship campaign with a 1-6 loss to Uzbekistan. Nepal finished last in their group. They gave-up 30 goals and scored just one. That one goal though would probably be considered as a very big achievement.

14 November 1999: The National Under-16 tournament is currently being held in Janakpur. The tournament is being jointly organized by the ANFA and the Japan Football Association. What becomes of the players after this tournament remains a mystery as Nepal lacks any sort of proper youth development program for this age group. The JFA has agreed to give support for this tournament for the next four years.

10 November 1999: Nepal's women lost to the Philippines 0-5 in their first Asian Championship match. The score at halftime was 2-0 and it stayed that way until the 75th minute. Philippines added a goal each in the 80th and 90th minutes to make the scoreline look a bit ugly.

7 November 1999: Former coach of the ANFA Academy, Rustom Akranov, the other day at a press conference in Banglore warned India that Nepal would "overhaul" them in three years time if they did not focus more on youth development.

6 November 1999: From the Indian Express: Underdogs Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) shocked holders Nepal XI by a solitary goal to enter the semi-final of the 21st All India Governor's Gold Cup Football Tournament in the fourth quarter-final match on Tuesday. Substitute Darjeeling striker Udai Thapa scored the all-important goal in the 81st minute to take his team into the last four of the championship. NFH: Perhaps Nepal should consider recruiting some of those Darjeeling boys for the National Team? It should be noted that the full National side was not sent this time around.

5 November 1999: The Women's National Team today left Kathmandu for the Philippines where they will be competing in the 12th Asian Women's Championship.

5 November 1999: It seems as though both Hari Khadka and Naresh Joshi have finished their stint with Mohammedan Sporting (Bangladesh) as they have not been included in the club's roster for a tour of India. It seems the Nepali duo were brought in simply as mercenaries to secure the Dhaka League Championship.

4 November 1999: Basanta Gauchan won the "Nepal Footballer of the Year" award and thus wins a motorcycle. The award was given to him primarily due to his performance at the SAF Games. Why the award was given before the year even ended is a mystery to the NFH. Surely, Naresh Joshi, with his hat-trick in Goa, India and his great form during the Olympic Qualifiers and Hari Khadka, as the leading scorer for Nepal in the SAF Games were the other contenders for the award. In past years, the "Player of the Year" award was named the "Rupak Memorial Award" and was usually given to a veteran footballer as a retirement present. It is not known if that award will still be continued to be given.

3 November 1999: Sepp Blatter, President of Fifa, will be visiting Nepal in early December. As Nepal has close to nothing to show him in football terms, his visit will basically consist of a tour of the ANFA Sadobato Complex where the ANFA office and Academy hostel are located.

1 November 1999: The 18 member squad for the Asian Women's Championship was selected the other day. Long time Nepali football friend Holgar Oberman has been serving as a technical advisor for the team. It is not clear if he will coach them too.

1 November 1999: Mohammedan Sporting by virtue of its 3-0 victory in the Dhaka Premier League yesterday clinched the league title. Hari Khadka started the game, while Naresh Joshi came on as a substitute.

23 October 1999: Hari Khadka and Naresh Joshi both scored a goal each in Mohammedan Sporting's 5-1 victory in the Dhaka Premier League yesterday. According to the reports Khadka had a solid game, but Joshi failed to impress.

21 October 1999: Hari Khadka and Naresh Joshi will be playing for Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka, Bangladesh) for the next couple of weeks as the Bangladeshi Keya Premier Football League wraps-up. There are only three games left in the season. The move seems to be temporary. It was reported today in the Independent Bangladesh that the two players actually refused to train the other day as they have not been paid their initial wages.

11 October 1999: It has been confirmed that the Group 5 Asian Cup qualifiers have been moved to February of 2000. It was originally scheduled for this week.

10 October 1999: It seems because of Kuwait's conflict with the Asian Olympic qualifiers, the Group 5 Asian Cup qualifiers have been pushed back. This is just pure speculation because of the lack of news about the Asian Cup qualifiers from the newspapers of the participating nations. Rather odd as the qualifiers are supposed to get under way today. The official AFC site has not indicated that the dates have been re-arranged. Stay tuned.

9 October 1999: No news on the National Team leaving for Kuwait to participate in the Asian Cup Qualifiers yet. Either the Nepali papers are a little slow or the ANFA is procrastinating. The tournament gets under way tomorrow!

9 October 1999: Nepal was very unlucky for the 2000 Asian Youth Cup Draws. Though they are still in relatively easy groups, they missed-out on being in an all SAFF nations group in both the U-19 and U-16 draw. The U-19's will face Maldives, Bangladesh and Iraq (Iraq are clear favorites) and the U-16's will face Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Maldives.

7 October 1999: According to the Kathmandu Post, a closed camp will start immediately for the Women's National Team which will be participating in the 12th Asian Women's Championship in Manila, Philippines. According to the report Nepal had participated in the 6th and 7th edition of the tournamnet.

5 October 1999: Hari Khadka will receive a Motorbike and Silver boot which was put out as bounty by local sponsors for the leading Nepali scorer in the SAF Games

5 October 1999: Goalkeeper, actor, commentator, TV personality and former police inspector Binod Kharel called it quits after the match yesterday. Binod replaced suspended Upendra Man Singh in the finals of the SAF Games. Binod Kharel had a promising career ahead of him in his early days, but fell out of favor with the majority of national team coaches since the 1996 Asian Cup Qualifying tournament.

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