Bhutan national football team to play exhibition match against Delhi outfit

The Bhutan senior national football team will play an exhibition match against a combined Delhi outfit at the Ambedkar Stadium on Monday.

The Bhutan senior national football team will play an exhibition match against a combined Delhi outfit at the Ambedkar Stadium on Monday.

The Bhutan side will play against Delhi Blues, which will be a combined team of state Santosh Trophy and Delhi Senior Division League players.

“The players of Bhutan senior national team are here in Delhi for visa interviews for their 2022 World Cup qualifying first round match against Guam (on June 11). They have to apply for US visa and they have to do that in Delhi,” Football Delhi President Shaji Prabhakaran said.

“They are here and so we approached them for an exhibition match,” he added.

Normally, when a national side of another country plays against a team in India, the organisers will have to seek permission from the All India Football Federation which will, in turn, have to get clearance from the Asian Football Confederation.

But Prabhakaran said that this process of getting permission was not required as it’s just an exhibition match. “This is just an exhibition match and we do not need permission from the AIFF,” Prabhakaran said.

An AIFF official said that he had no knowledge of Football Delhi having informed the AIFF about this match. “If a national team of another country plays in India, the host organisation will have to take permission from the AIFF and it needs clearance from the AFC,” the official said.

India last played against Bhutan in a friendly match in 2016 in Thimphu. India won 3-0 on that occasion. Bhutan are ranked 186 in the world.