Nepal’s road to October 13-22 AFC Futsal Championship 2018 Qualifiers will kick off on Thursday with the start of National Futsal League Championship.

A total of 16 teams are vying for the title in a tournament that serves as players’ selection for the 2018 Qualifiers to be held in Iran. The 16 teams are divided into two groups with each pool containing eight teams. The top four teams will enter the quarter-finals. The matches will be played at the Stupa Futsal Bouddha and Chaur Recreational Centre.

Khulatar Youth Club, BG Brothers, Kick-Off Futsal, Harisiddhi Futsal, Khalibari Football Club, Swayambhu Recreation Centre, Busy Futsal and Dhanyantari Futsal are pitted in Group ‘A’. The other group consists of Futsal Village, Samakhushi Futsal, Shankhamul Futsal, Rajini Futsal, Stupa Futsal, Rave Futsal Centre, Dhuku Futsal Hub and Chaur.

The tournament is organised by Futsal Committee under the All Nepal Football Association (Anfa) who will provide a motivational prize amount of Rs 500,000 to the champions. The runners-up will get Rs 250,000. The best players in four different positions—goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward—along with coach will get Rs 20,000 each.

Anfa Futsal Committee has already signed a five-year deal with Turn Pike—an event management committee—to conduct the tournament. According to the deal, Turn Pike will bear Rs 2 million out of the estimated cost of Rs 5 million to run the tournament. Rest of the amount will be borne by the football governing body.

In the opening day matches at Stupa, Khumaltar play Dhanyantari, BG Brothers meet Busy Futsal, Kick-Off take on Swayambhu and Harisiddhi will be up against Khalibari. Chaur Recreational Centre will host Futsal Village and also conduct the matches between Samakhushi and Dhuku, Shankhamul and Rave along with Rajini and Stupa.

Anfa Futsal Committee has already appointed Rakesh Shrestha as the coach who will be assisted by Rajesh Shahi and Bishnu Gurung. The trio will be picking up the best players from the tournament and form a national futsal team through the closed-camp for the Qualifiers.

Teams

Group A: Khulatar Youth Club, BG Brothers, Kick-Off Futsal, Harisiddhi Futsal, Khalibari Football Club, Swayambhu Recreation Centre, Busy Futsal. Dhanyantari Futsal

Group B: Futsal Village, Samakhushi Futsal, Shankhamul Futsal, Rajini Futsal, Stupa Futsal, Rave Futsal Centre, Dhuku Futsal Hub, Chaur