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 4–1 Tibet

(Copenhagen, Denmark; 30 June 2001)

Biggest win

Tibet 6–0 Delhi XI

(New Delhi, India; 4 August 2007)

Biggest defeat

Padania 14–2 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)	Club
1	1GK	Tenzin Samdup	(1992-12-23) 23 December 1992	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
2	2DF	Lobsang Wangyal	(1986-12-06) 6 December 1986	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
3	2DF	Ngawang Tenzin	(1983-02-26) 26 February 1983	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
4	3MF	Lobsang Dorjee	(1982-12-01) 1 December 1982	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
5	2DF	Dorjee Tsering	(1978-06-29) 29 June 1978	Phakshing
6	4FW	Sonam Rinchen	(1978-06-04) 4 June 1978	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
17	3MF	Husam Alsaif	(1978-05-29) 29 May 1978	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
8	2DF	Gonpo Dorjee	(1984-09-25) 25 September 1984	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
9	3MF	Dorjee Wangchuk	(1979-01-17) 17 January 1979	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
10	3MF	Nyima Gyalpo	(1986-04-19) 19 April 1986	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
11	4FW	Karma Yeshey Bhutia	(1980-05-15) 15 May 1980	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
12	4FW	Tenzin Tshepel	(1982-04-16) 16 April 1982	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
13	2DF	Dawa Tsering	(1976-03-25) 25 March 1976	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
14	2DF	Kunchok Dorjee	(1982-02-16) 16 February 1982	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
15	4FW	Tashi Tsering	(1985-07-08) 8 July 1985	Manang Marsyangdi
16	4FW	Tseten Namgyal	(1981-10-20) 20 October 1981	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
17	2DF	Passang Phuntsok	(1977-09-15) 15 September 1977	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
18	3MF	Tsering Chonjor	(1988-02-18) 18 February 1988	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
19	4FW	Tenzin Tsering	(1982-10-14) 14 October 1982	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
20	4FW	Lobsang Norbu	(1978-11-17) 17 November 1978	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
21	1GK	Tenzing Tsewang Lama	(1978-11-20) 20 November 1978	TNFA All-Stars F.C
22	1GK	Tsering Wangchuk (Captain)	(1979-07-01) 1 July 1979	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
23	4FW	Yeshi Choephel "Rana"	(1978-03-16) 16 March 1978	HWFC
24	3MF	Tenzin Dhargyal	(1988-10-01) 1 October 1988	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
25	3MF	Tenzin Choegyal	(1990-01-17) 17 January 1990	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
26	3MF	Dawa Chondhen	(1977-08-17) 17 August 1977	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
27	3MF	Kelsang Dorjee	(1978-06-26) 26 June 1978	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
28	3MF	Tenzin Choenyi	(1987-08-01) 1 August 1987	TNFA All-Stars F.C.
29	3MF	Tsering Dhundup	(1982-02-21) 21 February 1982	R.S.C. Calicut
30	1GK	Tenzin Namgyal	(1984-11-15) 15 November 1984	TNFA All-Stars F.C.

Selected Internationals

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

References

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

External links

Official website

International association football

FIFA Federations Teams Competitions World Cup U-17 U-20 Confederations Cup Olympics Youth Olympics Universiade World Rankings Player of the Year Ballon d'Or Timeline of association football

Africa	CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 Regional (CECAFA, CEMAC, COSAFA, WAFU)

Asia	AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-19 U-16 U-14 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, WAFF)

Europe	UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17

North America, Central America and the Caribbean	CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15

Oceania	OFC – Nations Cup U-20 U-17

South America	CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15

Non-FIFA	NF-Board – Viva World Cup CONIFA - ConIFA World Football Cup ConIFA European Football Cup IGA - Island Games

Games	African Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Indian Ocean Island Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games

See also Geography Debuts Codes Player of the Century Women's football

Unaffiliated football teams competing internationally

Active	Basque Country Brittany Sardinia Catalonia Corsica Darfur Galicia Greenland Monaco Nagorno-Karabakh Northern Cyprus Tamil Eelam Tibet Vatican City

Defunct	Nauru Silesia Wallis and Futuna

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