2012 Nehru Cup: Neighbours Nepal to replace African side Kenya?

The 2012 Nehru Cup being held in the year of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the All India Football Federation, but it seems that the AIFF is facing one problem after another before the tournament which is set to be played from August 22 to September 2 at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

I had speculated last week ( 2012 Nehru Cup: Is African nation Kenya sure to come? ) if Kenya was 100% certain come to play in the Nehru Cup. Now it is confirmed that the Africans have pulled out and that they would rather play a friendly against Jamaica in the US then come to India.

This came a complete surprise to the AIFF, who could could take the late withdrawl to CAF (Confederation of African Football) and FIFA then they had all necessary confirmation.


And who could replace Kenya?

There has been speculation about the Philippines or Nepal taking the place of Kenya with the Philippines having shown initial interest to come to play the Nehru Cup earlier on, but then they took back their confirmation due to a change in their own preparations for other tournaments later in the year.

Meanwhile our neighbours Nepal, the All Nepal Football Association and their media, have confirmed their participation with no confirmation from the AIFF so far. But it now looks likely that Nepal would be the fifth nation in the tournament.