"When Matt Ross took the Nepal national football team job earlier this year, he knew there would be tough times ahead. Nepal's mountainous terrain draws millions of tourists each year, but it has also made sporting progress difficult. Hamstrung by its terrain, football pitches are so scarce that the main national competition the Nepal Super League must be played over one month at a single venue: the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu."
"In early September, anger over a sweeping government ban on 26 social media platforms and deeper frustrations over corruption and poor job prospects brought thousands of young Nepalis on to the streets. The Gen Z protests began as a challenge to state censorship but quickly broadened into a wider anti-corruption movement."
"We were on the bus to training ahead of a friendly against Bangladesh when police told us not to go to the stadium, Ross says. Then we saw the reports of protests, burned buildings, politicians dragged from houses. The hotel told us to close our curtains but I looked out and saw the building next door on fire."
Matt Ross became coach of the Nepal national football team earlier in the year and faced longstanding infrastructural constraints. Nepal's mountainous terrain limits available pitches, so the Nepal Super League is played over one month at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. A government ban on 26 social media platforms in early September, combined with frustrations over corruption and jobs, sparked Gen Z-led protests that broadened into an anti-corruption movement. The squad was halted from training ahead of a friendly with Bangladesh as reports emerged of protests, burned buildings and politicians dragged from houses. The health ministry confirmed 72 dead and over 2,100 injured; the Bangladesh friendly was cancelled. Squad members held mixed sympathies, and at least one relative of team staff was killed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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