The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has temporarily suspended the sale of tickets for the final match of the SAFF Women's Championship football considering the safety of the viewers. The final match between hosts Nepal and Bangladesh is scheduled to be held at Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar at 6:30 PM on Wednesday evening.
According to ANFA, the sale of tickets for the final match has been postponed until further notice. The number of spectators who came to watch the semi-final match between Nepal and India on Sunday evening exceeded the capacity of the stadium and for the safety of the players and spectators the sale of tickets has been postponed for the time being, ANFA said in a statement. The semifinal match in which hosts Nepal defeated its arch rival India 4-2 on penalties witnessed crowd trouble after a controversial decision of the referee to book Nepal’s forward Rekha Paudel for an apparent foul. There was further controversy after the referee disallowed a goal scored by Nepal to the disappointment of the home crowd.
The ANFA has started an investigation into the matter.
Mt Everest Sports and Events Pvt. Ltd has been authorized to sell the tickets for the SAFF tournament. Issuing a press statement on Monday, ANFA also appealed to all concerned to not purchase tickets for the final, until further notice.