Everything you want to know about Nepal Super League

KATHMANDU: The eagerly anticipated second season of the Nepal Super League (NSL), the country’s first city franchise-based football competition, is set to kick off at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Friday.

Reigning champion Kathmandu RayZrs will take on debutant Sporting Ilam de Mechi in the first match of the league.

Organized by Nepal Sports and Event Management, NSL showcases nine teams representing different cities across the nation.

Here’s everything you need to know about the NSL:

Participating Teams:

Although the organizers were planning to have 10 teams in the second edition of NSL, only nine teams are participating in the league as Biratnagar City FC has pulled out. The first edition of NSL featured seven teams.

1. Jhapa FC (Jhapa)
2. Sporting Ilam De Mechi (Ilam)
3. Birgunj United FC (Parsa)
4. Kathmandu RayZers (Kathmandu)
5. Dhangadhi Football Club (Kailali)
6. Pokhara Thunders (Kaski)
7. Butwal Lumbini Club (Rupandehi)
8. Lalitpur Football Club (Lalitpur)
9. Football Club Chitwan (Chitwan)

Players Selection:

NSL organized an auction for the nine teams. A total of 179 players had registered for the auction. They were pooled into three categories – 28 in Pool A, 81 in Pool B and 70 in Pool C. Out of these players, 120 players were selected by the franchises while 59 remained unsold.

Marquee Players:

Each side was allowed to sign one marquee player each. Given below are marquee players signed by the participating teams:

1. Pokhara Thunders – Ayush Ghalan
2. Dhangadhi FC – Ashish Chaudhary
3. Kathmandu RayZrs – Hisub Thapaliya
4. Butwal Lumbini FC – Arik Bista
5. Birgunj FC – Deep Karki
6. Lalitpur City FC – Ananta Tamang
7. FC Chitwan – Bishal Shrestha
8. Sporting Ilam de Mechi – Bikesh Kuthu
9. Jhapa FC – Anjan Bista

Foreign Players:

All nine sides have signed foreign players. A total of 46 foreign players mostly from Africa have been recruited by the nine teams. Players countries like Ghana, Sénégal, Guinea, Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, England, Spain, United States, Uzbekistan, Serbia and France.

Match Format:

The nine teams will engage in a single round-robin format. The top four teams following this stage will advance to the qualifiers and eliminators, with the NSL featuring a total of 40 matches.

Match Schedule:

Matches are scheduled to take place from November 24 to December 30. Two matches each will be played on six days, while there will be a single match on the remaining days.

Coaches:

1. Lalitpur City FC – Andrew Gillan (Australia)
2. Jhapa FC – Oriol Mohedano Segura (Spain)
3. FC Chitwan – Mehrajuddin Wadoo (India)
4. Kathmandu RayZrs – Balgopal Maharjan
5. Pokhara Thunders – Nabin Neupane
6. Dhangadhi FC – Kishore Rai
7. Sporting Ilam de Mechi – Meghraj KC
8. Birgunj United – Sanoj Shrestha
9. Butwal Lumbini – Bijay Maharjan

Prize Money: 

Although the organizers haven’t disclosed the prize money yet, Shreyans Karki, Director of NSL, told a press meet recently that the winning team will pocket anywhere between Rs 7-10 million. In the last edition, the winning team had received Rs 3.5 million as prize money.

Venue:

All matches, including qualifiers and eliminators, will be hosted at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. Although the organizers had earlier said that they would try to host some matches outside Kathmandu, they said it was not possible due to logistical reasons.

Broadcasting:

Himalaya HD TV has secured broadcasting rights for all NSL matches.

Fixtures: