It
is a small country just south of Tibet, at the eastern end of
the Himalayas that affiliated to FIFA in 2000. It was until currently
ranked in the FIFA world rankings at 202. The Bhutan national
team played their first international match for many years in
1999 at the south Asian games held in Nepal.
On 30th
June 2002 Bhutan faced Montserrat in The Other Final and won
4-0. As this was a FIFA recognized match, Bhutan rose to 199
in the World Rankings. At this present time there are 9 or 10
teams that take part in the national tournament.
With the
FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) membership,
the scenario in Bhutan is likely to change. The BFF has already
acquired six acres land at Changjiji where it will have its
headquarters and hostels, and fields for the selected football
players under 14, 16 and 19. Funded by FIFA, the project costing
$400,000 will start next year. There are even plans of building
a national stadium at Babesa. Besides the coaches at various
schools, the BFF has three coaches certified by the AFC (Asian
Football Confederation). Presently there are 9 clubs in the
A Division and 9 teams in the B Division. The most expensive
player gets Nu 5,500 monthly aside from coaching, equipment
and free lod ging. Players must go outside to get more exposure.
Just recently
Bhutan played its qualifying matches for the South Asian games
in Group F against Guam and Mongolia out of which they qualified
for the next round of qualifying matches in Saudi Arabia.
