FIFA and AFC Website Declare Al-Ram as Venue for Afghanistan-Palestine 2nd Clash

FIFA and AFC websites have put Al-Ram as the hosting venue for the 2nd leg between Afghanistan and Palestine. Although this cannot be deemed as the final decision, the Afghanistan Olympic Committee claim that both matches will be played in Tajikistan is doubtful now, although the venue for the first leg is confirmed, and that is Tajikistan.

If Afghanistan chooses to play in Palestine, which means they have to make contacts with Israel authorities, this might trigger the criticism inside a society that strongly oppose Israeli regime. Possible demonstrations may follow.

Meanwhile, there is not a guarantee that Israeli regime issues No Objection Letter for Afghanistan tour of Al-Ram. This stance is strengthened by the fact that Israel denied releasing the letter to Palestine authorities for Pakistan friendlies in Al-Ram this week. Both matches were scheduled to be played on May 24 and 27, but they do not happen.

This puts Afghanistan Football Federation in a very difficult situation. One might think they will forfeit the second match. However, they have the right to object to the decision and ask for re-allocation of the venue due to security reasons in the border and inside Palestine.

Afghanistan U13 Finish the Festival In a High

Afghanistan finished the U13 Festival for the South Asia countries with a lot of acheivements. Through the festival, they were only beaten by Iran 1-0. Afghan news sources and footbal officials said Afghanistan made 7 wins and 1 loss which made them the champion of the festival with 18 points, 1 point ahead of host Iran.

However, Irna, the offical news agency of Iran, reported Iran clinched the title, without mentioning about the points.

AFC South Asian U13 Festival Completes on Monday

The players rested on Saturday. Today, a series of matches wil be played. On Monday, the players participate in the closing ceremony in Yazd City.

Overall, it has been a great achievement for Afghanistan. The Afghan team won 4 matches and lost 2 only to Iran. Some has also written Afghanistan defeated Iran by one goal, but the sources of Iran Football Federation has not say anything on this.

Most likely, Afghanistan will play the likes of India, Bhutan and Bangladesh today, since it has not played them before in this festival.

AFG U13 Makes 4 Wins out of 5

Results of Afghanistan U13 Team in South Asian Festival held in Yazd of Iran as of Friday, May 20, 2011:

AFG 2 - 1 Nepal
AFG 0 - 1 Iran
AFG 1 - 0 Pakistan
AFG 4 - 0 Yazd City
AFG 3 - 2 Sri Lanka

Afghanistan U13 Beats Nepal, but Goes Down against Iran

In the first day of AFC South Asian U13 Festival in Yazd of Iran, Afghanistan registered a 2-1 victory over Nepal, but went down against Iran by the smallest margin.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Iran and Yazd has taken part in the festival.

Afghanistan Will Jump to 163 in FIFA World Ranking Next Month

Despite losing 2 points next month, Afghanistan will jump 1 step on FIFA World Ranking Table and reaches to 163, its highest position ever.

If Afghanistan plays any friendlies, that might change.

Afghanistan in Its Peak in FIFA World Ranking

Afghanistan jumped 10 steps higher in May FIFA World Ranking Table and reached to 164, its highest ever place in the table. Following victory over Sri Lanka in April's Afc Challenge Cup Qualifier, Afghanistan was expected to reach this point.

164 is the highest place in the table for Afghanistan so far. They have reached to 173 in July 2006, but since then they were not in good mode until last month when they climbed to 174 following to consecutive defeats over Bhutan.

Afghanistan, with 77 overall points have climbed to 32 in AFC, which shows a 6 step jump.

Afghanistan's move in this month's table is the second highest jump after Senegal which climbed 11 steps, one more than Afghanistan.

Palestine-Pakistan Friendlies Postponed Due to Security

Pakistan is not travelling to Palestine for the two friendlies scheduled on May 22 and 27 in Ramallah. Israel did not issue an NOC to the Palestine Footaball Association yesterday due to the fragile security situation in the area.

“Yes, the tour has been postponed as the NOC has not been issued as yet. We have also called off the camp today,” Pakistan Football Federation Secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’ on Monday. “If possible the tour will be rescheduled after consulting with PFA in future,” he said.

“Safety of the players is more important and we should always prepare for such surprises. But I would say, it would have been productive for the preparations of our players ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh had we played the two matches against Palestine,” Lutfi said.

He also added that the federation will reschedule the two matches in the first week of June so that the team can get enough practice.

Palestine Footbal Association Secretary Abdelmajeed Hijjeh has criticised its Pakistani counterparts’ decision to postpone the event, highlighting that the Israeli authorities never refused the NOCs and that the documents are usually issued three to four days before.

“I’ve sent the NOC letters for each player and the Israeli authority will approve of them.”

The postponment of the tour supports Afghanistan's arguement that Palestine should also host the 2nd leg of WCQ v. Afghanistan in a third country. Afghanistan Olympic Committee has already told media both matches on June 29 and July 3 will be played in Tajikistan.

Palestine - Pakistan Friendlies in Jeopardy

KARACHI: The delay in issuing an NOC from the Israeli government to the Palestine Football Association has put the Pakistan football team’s tour to Palestine in danger. If this happens, Afghanistan has a strong reason for not accepting to travel to Palestine for the 2nd leg of WCQ against Palestine on July 3rd.

The Palestine Football Association has sought an NOC from the Israeli government for the Pakistan’s tour to Palestine but so far no satisfactory response has been given by the Israeli authorities. However, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) has told the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) that the Israeli government will issue them the NOC by Monday (tomorrow).

“Israel is yet to issue an NOC to the Palestine Football Association which has minimized the chances of the tour. The PFA has told us that the NOC will be issued by Monday next. Then we will have to ask our own government for an NOC and if we are not issued the NOC quickly then we will have to cancel the trip as we have very little time at our disposal,” the secretary of the PFF Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’ on Saturday.

Pakistan are scheduled to fly out of Lahore for Palestine on May 22 to play the remaining two matches of the four-match bilateral series against Palestine on May 24 and 27 at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram near Ramallah.

If the trip, which looks to be in jeopardy, is made possible then Pakistani team will have to first go to Jordan and then travel to Palestine through Israel by road.

Afghanistan and Palestine Play in Metallurge Stadium

DUSHANBE, May 12, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Afghan national soccer team will hold its home match of qualifying round for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Tajikistan.

The Tajikistan Football Federation (TFF) Secretary General Sherali Davlatov says they have received a letter from the Afghanistan Football Federation in which they ask to hold their home match against Palestine in Tajikistan in connection with the unstable situation in Afghanistan.

According to him, the match will be held at the Metallurg Stadium in Tursunzoda on June 29.

Afghanistan National Olympic Committee last week told BBC Pashto both matches will be played in Tajikistan, but the news is not confirmed by other sources yet.

Tajikistan the Neutral Venue for WCQ Matches of Afghanistan and Palestine

Today, the BBC Pashto website wrote that according to Afghan National Olympic Committee speaker, FIFA has decided that Afghanistan and Palestine play their two leg matches in a neutral country. And that country is Tajikistan, the northern neighbor of Afghanistan.

The speaker of NOC cited the security as FIFA's logic behind this decision.

Froozi scores 5 against Sara Meyasht

In the second match of Kabul Premier League, Froozi (former Kabul Bank) trashed Sara Meyasht by 5 goals and only received the answer for one of their goals.

The Afghan National Team captain, Salim Kohistani scored 3 goals for Froozi.

Big Bear and Jawanan Azadi locks horns with each other in the next match of the league.

Kabul Premier League Kicks Off

Yesterday the Premier League of Kabul started with Urdo and Sanayee facing in the first match. The matched ended with 1-1 draw result.
Froozi and Sara Meyasht plays the second match on Sunday. All matches take place at the Goal Project which has an artificial turf.

The current league consist of 8 teams. While some other teams were invited as well, they declined to participate due some disagreements with the Football Federation.

The winner of the League will qualify for the Zone's Champions Tournament to be held between the champions of each zone and was won by Urdo last year.

South Asian U13 Festival Kicks off on May 10

AFC: Kuala Lumpur: The AFC U-13 Festival of Football for the South Asia region is set to kick off in the Iranian province of Yazd with a multitude of educational activities for grassroots football on May 10.


Nine teams -- Iran, hosts Yazd, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- will take part in the two-week annual youth extravaganza with each team to send 22 players and four officials.

Festival Project Manager Dr. Shamil Kamil said the Yazd province festival would be the fourth and better festival organised by Iran.

"Evey year, the festival keeps getting better-organised and expanding its activities. Learning experience from the previous festivals helps in organising a better one in the future.

"Iran FF and Yazd FA both have committed to achieving the festival objectives. The AFC Festival of football will help to build the foundation for football and work as an educational tool for the future development of football in South Asia," said the AFC Grassroots and Youth Development Officer.

A cornucopia of exciting activities has been planned, including a coaching course for 24 young coaches, referee course to be attended by 21 referees and a head coach workshop for nine head coaches.

The online S2S Programme will also be delivered to 21 coaches, while nine physiotherapists are set to attend a physiotherapy workshop, a new activity from this year’s festival.

Matches will be organised for the nine teams which consist of 198 players of 12 years of age and skill tests will be conducted for the team participants to evaluate their current playing and technical skills.

Two formats of matches will be adopted to give opportunities to all the players to play, enjoy and develop.

Will Bahrain Determine Where Afghanistan and Palestine Play?

Palestine's hosting of the second leg in World Cup Qualifier v. Afghanistan will be rely on another match. Palestine is replacing Thailand in the Olympic Qualifiers, because Thailand has entered an eligible player in their first leg. This has direct impacts on Afghanistan second leg against Palestine in WCQ.

Palestine should play Bahrain on June 19 and 23. Bahrain is a team which has showed resistance to play in Palestine before. They definitly will ask AFC to let them play Palestine in a neutral venue. Whether this proposal is accepted or rejected by AFC, Afghanistan might also follow that pattern.

If AFC agrees with Bahrain not to play in Palestine, then the second leg between Afghanistan and Palestine should be played in a neutral venue as well. If the decision is otherwise, then Afghanistan will find itself in a difficult situation.

Tajikistan Plays Hosts for Afghanistan World Cup Qualifier Match

Tajikistan plays host for Afghanistan first leg of World Cup play-offs. Afghanistan will meet Palestine on June 29, 2011 in Tajikistan. The second leg will be hosted by Palestine, but the venue is still not known.

Afghanistan played Syria in Tajikistan for 2010 World Cup Qualifiers in 2007 where Afghanistan lost the match 1-2.

Afghanistan will have a practice camp in Tajikistan starting from June 18. All players, including those play in Europe and US will join the camp.

This news is not confirmed by AFC or AFF yet.

Palestine Plays 2 Friendlies v. Pakistan

Palestine will play Pakistan on May 24 and 27, 2011 as part of preparations for World Cup Qualifier against Afghanistan. Both matches will be played in Ramallah in West Bank.

Palestine visited Pakistan in March for two friendly matches ahead of their AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier matches.

This transmits to messages to Afghanistan: First, Palestine is getting the full preparation for their matches against Afghanistan at the end of June and beginning of July, and second, AFC might not agree with Afghanistan to relocate the second leg of matches v. Palestine in a neutral venue. Although not confirmed yet, Afghanistan is trying its best to persuade AFC that both matches be played in neutral venues.

Hummel Sponsors Afghanistan National Teams

Video: Afghanistan in Practice

Lack of Coordination the Main Reason Behind Afghanistan Crush in Challenge Cup

Afghanistan Times News Bureau

KABUL: Lack of coordination among Afghan footballers was the main reason behind failure of Afghanistan in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup, said an official on Saturday.

7 Afghan refugees from Europe and US joined the national team in the challenge cup and players did not have proper coordination among each other. This caused Afghanistan lose the match, said Ahmad Shah Sayer, Head of Media Department Football Federation, in an exclusive interview with Afghanistan Times Daily.

He added that Afghan football team defeated Sri Lanka by 1-0 goal and lost their two matches for Nepal and North Korea respectively in Group D and crashed the rest of the tournament.

“If there was a special sport ground inside the country and all players had practiced and knew the techniques and tactics of each others, I am sure that Afghanistan football team would have beaten others,” Mr. Sayer added.

Hamayon Kargar, Coach of Afghanistan National Football Team told Afghanistan Times Daily that the players had practiced since last three months for readiness for the abovementioned cup. But he did not express its concerned regarding coordination of football players.

Ahmad Qubad, a football player told Afghanistan Times Daily that those teams are successful; which have teamwork and the players are well aware of each others’ techniques.

“If the football federation selects Afghan refugees in the national team, it must provide practicing facilities inside the country so the players should get along with each others,” he noted.

Mr. Kargar praised the performance of players in three matches of challenges cup, he said players still need more effort and hard practice to set them for big football tournaments.

Afghanistan Jumps to 164 in FIFA World Ranking in May

Afghanistan is likely to have a 10 step jump in FIFA World Ranking in May 2011. Afghanistan gains 16 points from its win over Sri Lanka in AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier and ranks at 164 in next month ranking.

Afghanistan will be placed at 32 in Asia next month.

This is the highest place Afghanistan has ever reached. Previously, Afghanistan ranked high in July 2006 when it reached 173 after two consecutive draws in AFC Challenge Cup of 2006.

The estimate are used from World Football Ranking web log.

Nepal to Host 1st Ever U16 SAFF Championship

Sports Power India: Nepal has agreed to host the 2012 Under 16 SAFF tournament, though there was some discussion on the cost factor.

It has been decided that for the MAs wanting to host the U-16s, they themselves would have to bear the costs. The Nepal delegation head Ganesh Thapa has said it would scout the market and send a proposal for the minimum cost at which they can host the event.

Nepal also made out a case that the 2013 Clubs Championship be held there as had been announced. They said that in the previous meeting, it had been announced that Nepal would host the tournament, and consequently the MA there had made announcements in their national media accordingly. To be told No now would be embarrassing, to say the least.

SAFF President Kazi Salauddin and General Secretary Alberto Colaco assured that they would finalise Nepal’s name but just after consultation with the sponsors.

Sri Lanka to Host 2nd Bi-annual SAFF Women's Championship

Sportz Power India: In the SAFF Seminar today, the discussion on the women’s SAFF tournament concluded with the reiteration that it is of utmost importance to continue the event, despite financial hardships. Sri Lankan Manilal Fernando, AFC Vice President and FIFA Development Officer said that his country would host it anyway.

“If no other country comes forward then I will host the event. If I find sponsors, that will be fine. Otherwise my own company will finance the event,” Fernando said to much applause.

All India Football Federation CEO Kushal Das had earlier mooted a Under-13 football festival. The proposal has been cleared, especially after Das clarified that a major insurance company wants to reach out to the parents of children for insurance sales for the latter and is very keen that the event takes place.

1st Ever Bi-annual SAFF Clubs Championship to Kick Off in September

Sportz Power India: NEW DELHI: The first ever bi-annual South Asia Football Federation (SAFF) Clubs Championship will be held in India from September 1 to 15, the Member Associations (MAs) of SAFF decided here today, at a seminar organised jointly by SAFF, AIFF and India's biggest industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry..

Also decided was that it will be held every second edition in this country, which SAFF’s sole marketing agency World Sports Group said is the biggest market for football in the eight-country formation under the aegis of the Asian Football Confederation.

This means that the 2015 SAFF Clubs Championship will be held here, and in between, as in 2013, it will be held in any other member country excepting India and Bangladesh.

During the presentation from WSG by Ian Mathie, he had reiterated the point that football marketers have been insisting on at almost every for a: the dates for such events have to be fixed in advance, so that there is ample time for them to get sponsorships.

Keeping this in mind, it was decided that the date for the bi-annual tournament will remain September 1 to 15 for the years in which the tournament will be played.

There was some discussion on whether all the MAs would agree to this or not, since countries like Maldives have a strong professional club tournament and their dates might clash with the September timeline set today.

Barring Maldives all the MAs agreed t accept that date, though Maldives has not said No to this.

Let the event start, was the general agreement of all present at the seminar held in one of FICCI's auditoriums.

However, SAFF General Secretary added one more conditionality in aid of better marketing prospects: the bidding countries must from the next edition (that is, of 2013) will have to specify the city and the stadia in which they propose to hold the tournament, so that these cities and stadia be checked out by the SAFF for playing conditions, floodlighting, facilities, etc., all of which are vital for deliverables that can be offered to the sponsors.

1st SAFF Seminar to Coordinate Activities with Members

Mr. Ajay Maken, the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports of India will inaugurate the 1st Seminar for Members Associations belonging to the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) on the 14th of April at 10 a.m. The AFC President Mr. Mohammed Bin Hammam will preside over the inaugural session.

The seminar which is being conducted by SAFF in Association with FICCI and AIFF will be hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry at the Federation House, New Delhi.

SAFF President Mr. Kazi Mohammed Salahuddin, FIFA Executive Committee Member Mr. Manilal Fernando, AFC Vice-President, Mr. Ganesh Thapa, AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel, FICCI Sports Committee Chairman, Mr. Prasanna Krishna, AFC General Secretary, Mr. Alex Soosay are among the dignitaries who will attend the seminar.

The main aim of the seminar is to coordinate the activities of SAFF so that there is greater cooperation between the SAFF Member Associations and they work together for the development of Football in South Asia.

Follow Up:

In his presidential address at the SAFF Seminar, Bin Hammam said AFC welcomed the opportunity to work for the development of football in the South Asian region.

“We are delighted to be involved in developing in the SAFF region. We are focusing on developing professional football but this will not stop us from developing amateur football too. In Vision Asia we have programmes for both,” said Bin Hammam.

Afghanistan Women Team Not Included in FIFA Ranking Yet

Like FIFA ranking for the men's national teams, there is a ranking for the women national teams from 2003 onward which is updated 4 times a year. Afghanistan, unfortunately, is not included in the ranking so far.

The provision to be included in the ranking is to play at least 5 official matches against other national teams and be active in the past 4 years. Afghanistan has played only 3 official international matches against Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives in 2010.

Afghanistan ranks last, with 750 points, among 172 teams which are included in FIFA Provisional Ranking. Teams like Uzbekistan, UAE and some other prominent countries in men football in Asia have not completed the 5 matches minimum requirement either.

Afghanistan and Palestine Play in Neutral Venues

Homayoon Kargar, the Head Coach of Afghanistan told Tolo News both Afghanistan and Palestine will host their respective World Cup Qualifier legs in third countries. He cited the security reasons as the basis for this move. This view has been confirmed by some members of the Afghan squad as well.

Although Kargar added FIFA and AFC have not permitted Palestine to host matches in Palestine, he did not point out to the fact Palestine hosted Jordan in Ramallah some months ago.

In addition to security reasons, Afghanistan will have problems in obtaining Israeli visa to enter Palestine.

21 Places Jump, 174 Place in FIFA Ranking for Afghanistan

In FIFA April's Ranking, Afghanistan climbed 21 places reaching 174, one place short of their highest place in FIFA ranking which was achieved in July 2006.

Afghanistan had only 10 points in March which placed it at 195 place of the world. This month, with the 51 points gained after two successive defeats of Bhutan, Afghanistan reached 174.

This month ranking covers all matches up to April 7, which means the win over Sri Lanka will give Afghanistan more points in the next ranking.

Afghanistan Performed Bravely, but Lost to North Korea

Afghanistan failed to qualify for the final round of AFC Challenge Cup after it received two goals from World Cuppers North Korea in its final group match today. North Korea could score in injury time of first half and minute 70 of the match.

A draw v. North Korea could help Afghanistan get the second group position, but some individual mistakes cost the match for Afghanistan. Homayoon Kargar, Afghan head coach, was happy about his boys performance, but was unhappy about the mistakes.

North Korea coach also praised Afghanistan for their strong performance.

Team-e-Mellie is flying to Kabul on Wednesday.

Afghanistan Take on North Korea Today

Afghanistan has a hard job in their last group match in AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier v. North Korea. To qualify to the next round, Afghanistan has to beat North Korea or wait for a surprise win of Sri Lanka over Nepal in the other match of today.

North Korea has 6 points after beating Sri Lanka and Nepal, Nepal has 3 points after winning over Afghanistan and losing to North Korea, and Afghanistan has 3 points after winning over Sri Lanka and losing to Nepal. So, today both matches decide which two teams qualify for the next round.

North Korea is a formidable opponent for Afghanistan. They were in World Cup last year and are defending champions of AFC Challenge Cup, while Afghanistan came after they won their play-offs before the group matches. On the other hand, Nepal should not have a big task v. Sri Lanka. The last time, Nepal scored 3 goals while receiving none.

The only hope for Afghanistan is that Sri Lanka creates a surprise, or themselves create a surprise by winning over a North Korea who might enter most of their reserve players in today's match.

Afghanistan overcome Sri Lanka

Hadid score in minute 82 for Afghanistan to send Afghanistan equal to Nepal behind North Korea in Group D of Afc Challenge Cup Qualifier.

The win is vital for Afghanistan, because it was beaten in the first match by Nepal.

Afghanistan Down in the First Match

Nepal started their AFC Challenge Cup group D qualifiers campaign with a win on Thursday as they defeated Afghanistan 1-0 at the Dasharath Stadium.

The goal which came at 27 minute gave all 3 points to Nepal.

Afghanistan has a mountain to climb if it wants to qualify for the next round.A win in today's match plus a draw or win against North Korea could send Afghanistan to the next round.

Afghanistan will take on Sri Lanka at 2:15 pm (Kabul Time)and another strong opposition, North Korea, on Tuesday at the same time.

Afghanistan Aims for 7 Points

Afghanistan is aiming for 7 points in Group D of AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier to begin on April 7. Salim (Israfil) Kohistani told Tamadon TV they look to defeat Nepal and Sri Lanka and draw North Korea during the contest.

Kohistani looked confident and said they do their best to grab one place in the final stage of the tournament.

Afghanistan will fly to Nepal on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kantipur TV of Nepal won the broadcasting rights of the matches to be played from April 7 to 9 in Kathmandu. Tamadon TV has shown interest to broadcast Afghanistan matches live, but it is not known whether the Kantipur TV agrees.

Afghanistan One of Best Movers in this Month FIFA Ranking

FIFA is going to release its ranking for the month of March on April 13th. However, a preview of the future ranking shows Afghanistan might move from 195 team of the world to 174 in virtue of their consecutive wins over Bhutan on March 23 and 25.

Afghanistan will gain 51 points which adds up to their 10 points they have for a long time. With going 21 steps higher, Afghanistan will be the best mover in Asia and 3rd overall in the world this month. It is also the best move of Afghanistan so far. Afghanistan climbed from 188 to 173 in July 2006.

Afghanistan's match v. Nepal on April 7 will be counted in this month ranking as well, which means a draw would raise Afghanistan's points to 70 and a win to 87.

Diplomatic Relations a Hurdle for Afghanistan v. Palestine

Afghanistan play-offs against Palestine might see problems due to diplomatic relations. Palestine is going to host Afghanistan on July 3rd, but Afghanistan might not be able to get into West Bank to play Palestine, unless the match is played in a neutral place.

Afghanistan does not recognize Isreal as a state and therefore does not have any diplomatic relations with Isreal which is a requirement for applying visa to enter Palestine. It is also mentionable that contacting any level of Israeli authorities by Afghanistan Football Federation may face a lot of criticism inside Afghanistan. Some years ago, an e-mail was sent mistakenly to Isreali Embassy in Berlin for the ceremony of Afghanistan's Independence Day by a Secretary of Afghanistan Mission in Berlin which costed the job of the Secretary. She could not come back to Afghanistan due to a lot of creaticism by media and religious scholars.

Since Afghanistan might not be given the right to host Palestine in Kabul, it would be wise that Palestine host the return leg in a neutral place. The countries like Iran, Tajikestan or Pakistan might be good options for both countries.

Afghanistan hosted Syria in their last world cup qualifier return leg in Tajikestan.

Afghan Women Break Barriers

Kuala Lumpur: AFC Women’s Director Youn Bokyoung feels Asian women are breaking barriers in their quest to take women’s football to a higher plane.

Despite certain challenges in the development of women’s football, Asian women are rising to the occasion and will set good examples to others especially the young ones, says Youn.

One moment of truth for Asian women’s football, feels Youn, is the Afghan national women’s team’s international debut in Bangladesh last year after having faced many challenges.

They were up against teams from countries where women’s soccer was well established during the inaugural South Asian Football Federation Women’s Championship in 2010 in the South Asian country.

Youn is confident women’s football in Afghanistan has a chance to improve despite the challenges and current situation in the country.

She said: “They need to increase the number of youth competitions as well as coaching courses referee courses.

“Despite the lack of football activity, national player Khalida Popal is one of the passionate players and she is also in charge of women's football administration in her country.

“She really wants to develop Afghan women's football and believes that their dream will come true sooner,” said Youn.

The Afghan team had faced many challenges, among them, having no place to train, except for a Nato helipad which was the only safe place for them to play and which they had to vacate each time a helicopter came down to land.

“I hate helicopters, but anywhere else, we would not be able to play...,” Popal, one of the longest-serving team members, was quoted as saying.

Wahidullah Wahidi, the team's coach, said: “Just competing internationally will be enough of a victory."

Afghanistan to Play Palestine in World Cup Qualifier Round 1

Afghanistan will play Palestine in the first round of 2014 World Cup Qualifier in Asia.

Afghanistan will host Palestine on June 29 and Palestine will host Afghanistan on July 3rd.

The winner of these play-offs will play Thailand in the second round which will be played on July 23 and 28 in 2 more play-offs.

Old News: Afghanistan Qualifies for the Group Stage of AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier

Gurgaon: Afghanistan advanced to the qualifying tournament proper for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup after a 2-0 second leg triumph on Friday saw Mohammad Yosuf Kargar’s side down Bhutan 5-0 on aggregate in their pre-qualifying clash.

Afghanistan went into the game at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium buoyed by their comfortable 3-0 first-leg win at the same venue, which came courtesy of a Sediq Walizada hat-trick, but they had to wait until an hour had been played before extending their aggregate advantage.

Nadeem Wahid broke the deadlock in the 61st minute before Israfeel Kohistani gave the men from the Himalayan kingdom an even bigger mountain to climb with Afghanistan’s second of the match just four minutes later.

Afghanistan advance to next month’s 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifying Group D and will kick-off their campaign on April 7 against hosts Nepal.

Afghanistan in the Battle of Neighbors in AFC U-19 Championship

The draw for 2012 AFC U-19 Championship took place today in AFC Home in Malaysia.

The draw result is interesting for Afghanistan, since Afghanistan opponents are all neighbors except one. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan and India are playing in this group along with Afghanistan.

Thirty-nine teams were divided into two zones and separated in seven groups of six or five teams each. Each group will play one round league at a centralized venue and top two teams from each group will make it to the tournament proper.

Third best teams from each West and East zones will complete the 16-team line up of the 2012 finals.

The groups are as the following:

Group A: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives
Group B: Bahrain, Jordan, Tajikistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bhutan
Group C: Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan
Group D: UAE, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon
Group E: Korea Republic, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Guam, Chinese Taipei
Group F: DPR Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos
Group G: Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau

Afghanistan in Group B of 2012 AFC U-16 Championship

The draw for 2012 AFC U-16 Championship took place today in AFC Home in Malaysia.

Afghanistan is placed in a relatively tough group in which UAE, Kuwait, Yeman, Pakistan and Maldives are also playing.

Forty teams were divided into two zones and separated in seven groups of six or five teams each. Each group will play one round league at a centralised venue and top two teams from each group will make it to the tournament proper.

Third best teams from each West and East zones will complete the 16-team line up of the 2012 finals.

The composition of the 7 groups is as the following:

Group A: Iraq, Iran, Bangladesh, Qatar, Palestine, Sri Lanka
Group B: UAE, Kuwait, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives
Group C: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan, India
Group D: Syria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Lebanon
Group E: DPR Korea, China, Timor Leste, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau
Group F: Japan, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei, Laos, Korea Republic, Cambodia
Group G: Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Guam

FOOTBALL AFGHANISTAN to Blog!!

Dear Readers!

FOOTBALL AFGHANISTAN is where you will find all news related to football in Afghanistan. We try to give the most updated information on National Football Team of Afghanistan (Team-e-Melli or the Stars of Ariana) and other league matches around the country.

We would be very happy to have your cooperation with this blog. If you have any news or information that want to share with others, please send it to our e-mail address: footballafghanistan@gmail.com

We hope this blog be used as an important tool for public awareness around football in Afghanistan.

Regards,