Sports in Nepal comprise both traditional Nepalese and modern international games. Even though there is no exact data, Football, cricket and volleyball are most popular sports in Nepal.[1][2][3] On 23 May 2017, volleyball was also declared as national sport of Nepal.[4] Before 2017, traditional games like dandi biyo and kabbadi were considered as the de facto national games.
Cricket fans with umbrella waiting for match to begin as rain abandoned the match.
The Nepal Olympic Committee and the National Sports Council hosts the National Games of Nepal every two or three years. The event is meant to identify talent for the South Asian Games, Asian Games and Olympic Games as well as develop sporting infrastructure throughout the country. The National Games have been held eight times with the first event being held in 1982 at Kathmandu.
Nepal first competed in the summer Olympics at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and has competed in eleven straight summer Olympics starting from the 1972 Munich Olympics. Nepal has also competed in four winter Olympic events first competing in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and last competed in the event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. As of 2018, Nepal has not won a medal in any of the Olympic events.
Nepal competed at first Asian Games in 1951 at New Delhi and won its first medal at the event in the 1986 Seoul Games, winning 8 bronze medals. As of 2018, Nepal has won 2 silver medals and 22 bronze medals at the event.
Nepal has competed in every edition of the South Asian Games and has hosted the event in 1984, 1999 and 2019. As of 2019, Nepal is the fourth-most successful country, winning 679 medals winning 130 gold medals, 182 silver medals and 367 bronze medals.
Football (also known as soccer) is one of the most popular sports in Nepal. The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is the governing body of Nepalese football that organizes the men's and women's national teams.
Football was introduced to Nepal during the Rana regime in the 1921.[5] Since its introduction play was mostly limited to the Kathmandu Valley but since the turn of the millennium more tournaments have started to be organized throughout the country. The Martyr's Memorial A-Division League is the premier football league in Nepal and has been organized since 1955.
Cricket is the most popular sport in Nepal.[6] It rapidly grew popularity in the mid 2010s, following the slight successes of the Nepalese cricket team as well as the country's explosive rise in social media and television viewing influence from neighboring country India.
Nepal claimed One Day International (ODI) status for the first time with their six wicket win over Papua New Guinea in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier play off encounter on 15 March 2018.[10][11] The men and women's team both currently have T20I status as a result of an ICC decision to expand the status to all member nations.[12]
_pictogram.svg){kind=small}
_pictogram.svg){kind=small}
