Tibet national football team

Tibet national football team
Nickname(s) "The Forbiddens"
Association Tibetan National Football Association
Confederation ConIFA
Head coach Kelsang Dhondup
Most caps Husam Alsaif (footballer)
Top scorer Tsering Dhundup
First colours
Second colours
Elo ranking
Current 232
Highest 174 (6 November 1972)
Lowest 232 (2015)
First international
Greenland Greenland 4–1 Tibet Tibet
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 30 June 2001)
Biggest win

Tibet Tibet 6–0 Delhi XI

(New Delhi, India; 4 August 2007)
Biggest defeat
Padania Padania 14–2 Tibet Tibet
(Milan, Italy; 7 May 2008)

The Tibet national football team is a football team controlled by the Tibetan National Football Association (TNFA), an organization of exiled Tibetans. Its current team manager is Kelsang Dhondup.

Many of the players are in exile and are represented by the Tibetan Government in Exile. The team is part of neither FIFA nor the AFC and does not participate in international tournaments. The TNFA was founded in 2001 and its goal is to gain an official status.

The Forbidden Team[1]

The first international game the team played was against Greenland, which took place in Denmark. The team was followed by a documentary film crew, during the process of forming the team, practices, the match, and everything in between. The documentary was named 'The Forbidden Team'. To form the team, a selective tournament was held in Dehradun, India. It featured all the various Tibetan football teams around India.

After the team was selected, Team Tibet headed to Dharamsala to begin their practice sessions where Jens Espense was hired by the Tibetan Football Association to coach the team for the match. He had only a month to get them conditioned and ready to play and the players were not even at a minor league level. Moreover, the pitch was in horrible condition and only half of it could be used as it was located on a public road. During practice, Karma Nyodup was working to get all documentation done for the flight to Greenland. Numbers of players were soon dropped due to improper travel documents.

After a month had passed, the team flew to Denmark for their first international game, which was organized by Michael Nybrandt. He was also advocating Tibet when the Chinese government raised their cause for concern. China did not want this match to happen as they believed Tibet belonged to China. It threatened to cut off all its trade with Denmark if the match went on as planned. Denmark however, did not back down and allowed the game to take place. On 30 June 2001 the Tibetan National Football Team played its first international match where it lost 1-4 against Greenland.

FIFI Wild Cup (Hamburg, Germany) and ELF Cup (Northern Cyprus)

The 2006 FIFI Wild Cup took place in Hamburg, Germany. The first match they played was against St. Pauli on 30 May 2006. They lost this game 7-0. The second and final match of Tibet in this tournament was against Gibraltar on 31 May 2006. They lost this game 5-0. During the ELF Cup Tibet did not win any games and they suffered their biggest defeat. The first game was against Tajikistan on 19 November 2006 where they lost 3-0. On 20 November, Tibet played the Crimean Tatars, which they lost 1-0. Finally on 21 November the biggest loss came when Tibet played Northern Cyprus, who beat them 10-0.

Activities of the Tibetan National Football Association

The Tibetan National Football Association was founded in 2001, soon after the authorization was delivered by the Kashag (the Tibet Cabinet), and registration under Indian law.[2] Jetsun Pema, the sister of the 14th Dalai Lama is the president of the association, Thupten Dorjee the secretary, and Kalsang Dhondup the executive secretary. The association is now organizing the Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup GCMGC football tournament which existed already in the 80's. In 2003, the 17th Karmapa was the chief guest on the first day of the tournament which took place at the Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala.[3] Mr. Shrikant Baldi, Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, was the chief guest in 2004 for the tournament.[4] The 13th GCMGC, took place in 2007, and the chief guest was Khenchen Menling Tri Rinpoche of Mendroling Monastery.[5] The 14th took place in 2008, and the chief guest was Khyabje Ling Rinpoche[6]

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Tenzin Samdup (1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
2 2DF Lobsang Wangyal (1986-12-06) 6 December 1986 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
3 2DF Ngawang Tenzin (1983-02-26) 26 February 1983 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
4 3MF Lobsang Dorjee (1982-12-01) 1 December 1982 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
5 2DF Dorjee Tsering (1978-06-29) 29 June 1978 0 Nepal Phakshing
6 4FW Sonam Rinchen (1978-06-04) 4 June 1978 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
17 3MF Husam Alsaif (1978-05-29) 29 May 1978 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
8 2DF Gonpo Dorjee (1984-09-25) 25 September 1984 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
9 3MF Dorjee Wangchuk (1979-01-17) 17 January 1979 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
10 3MF Nyima Gyalpo (1986-04-19) 19 April 1986 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
11 4FW Karma Yeshey Bhutia (1980-05-15) 15 May 1980 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
12 4FW Tenzin Tshepel (1982-04-16) 16 April 1982 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
13 2DF Dawa Tsering (1976-03-25) 25 March 1976 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
14 2DF Kunchok Dorjee (1982-02-16) 16 February 1982 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
15 4FW Tashi Tsering (1985-07-08) 8 July 1985 0 Nepal Manang Marsyangdi
16 4FW Tseten Namgyal (1981-10-20) 20 October 1981 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
17 2DF Passang Phuntsok (1977-09-15) 15 September 1977 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
18 3MF Tsering Chonjor (1988-02-18) 18 February 1988 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
19 4FW Tenzin Tsering (1982-10-14) 14 October 1982 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
20 4FW Lobsang Norbu (1978-11-17) 17 November 1978 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
21 1GK Tenzing Tsewang Lama (1978-11-20) 20 November 1978 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C
22 1GK Tsering Wangchuk (Captain) (1979-07-01) 1 July 1979 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
23 4FW Yeshi Choephel "Rana" (1978-03-16) 16 March 1978 0 England HWFC
24 3MF Tenzin Dhargyal (1988-10-01) 1 October 1988 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
25 3MF Tenzin Choegyal (1990-01-17) 17 January 1990 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
26 3MF Dawa Chondhen (1977-08-17) 17 August 1977 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
27 3MF Kelsang Dorjee (1978-06-26) 26 June 1978 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
28 3MF Tenzin Choenyi (1987-08-01) 1 August 1987 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.
29 3MF Tsering Dhundup (1982-02-21) 21 February 1982 0 India R.S.C. Calicut
30 1GK Tenzin Namgyal (1984-11-15) 15 November 1984 0 Tibet TNFA All-Stars F.C.

Selected Internationals

Date Venue Opponent Competition Result
7 May 2008 Italy Milan  Padania 2 - 13
19 April 2008 Netherlands Breda, North Brabant Netherlands JEKA Breda 1 - 1
17 April 2008 Netherlands Maassluis, South Holland Netherlands VDL-Maassluis 0 - 5
2 November 2007 India Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, Sikkim  Bhutan 0 - 3
4 August 2007 India Kirori Mal College, New Delhi India Delhi XI 6 - 0
21 November 2006 Northern Cyprus Dr. Fazil Kucuk Stadium, Famagusta  Northern Cyprus ELF Cup 2006 0 - 10
20 November 2006 Northern Cyprus Zafer Stadium, Güzelyurt  Crimea ELF Cup 2006 0 - 1
19 November 2006 Northern Cyprus Zafer Stadium, Güzelyurt  Tajikistan (futsal team) ELF Cup 2006 0 - 3
30 May 2006 Germany Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg Republic of St. Pauli 2006 FIFI Wild Cup 0 - 7
31 May 2006 Germany Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg  Gibraltar 2006 FIFI Wild Cup 0 - 5
10 October 2003 India Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, Sikkim  Sikkim 1 - 2
14 July 2001 Germany Germany  Monaco 1 - 2
30 Jun 2001 Denmark Denmark  Greenland 1 - 4

References

  1. ↑ Sarmah, Bhargab. "Keeping the flame alive: The Forbidden Team's story".
  2. ↑ "Promoting sports in the Tibetan community: an interview with Kalsang Dhondup, the driving force behind Tibetan sports". Tibet.net. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  3. ↑ Dharma Chakra Centre Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Kathmandu Lift Gyalyum Chenmo Gold Cup". Tibet.ca. 2004-06-14. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  5. ↑ "The 2007 GCMGC Football Tournament kick-starts". Phayul.com. 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  6. ↑ 14th Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup 2008-Photo Album Archived 7 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
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