Tickets for Bhutan vs China game available for advance booking

Football: With only a month left for the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualification match against Hong Kong on June 11, three new players are expected to join the national football squad.

Bhutan Football Federation’s (BBF) media spokesperson, Phuntsho Wangdi, said they were changing the squad, because a few players in the national team are injured and would not make it for the first away game on June 11. “The change is not because of their bad performance,” he clarified.  However, they are yet to finalise the list of the 23-man national squad.

Phuntsho Wangdi said that a team could file-up up to 50 players and replace the injured individuals when needed.  He said that the team would keep changing, based on individual fitness during the qualifying games. “We want the best of the players to perform during the match,” he said.

Bhutan will have to play eight matches, comprising four home and away games each.

BFF has also finalised the cost of tickets for the home game between Bhutan and China on June 16.  The tickets will be sold in two groups, category A and B.  Category A will be for visiting supporters and B for local ones.

Category A tickets are fixed at Nu 3,200 and B at Nu 300.  BFF’s general secretary, Ugyen Wangchhuk, said local supporters could buy the category A tickets, but visitors would not be allowed to buy the B category ones.

BFF will be printing out only 10,000 tickets for the match, given the seating capacity of the Changlimithang stadium.  2,000 tickets will be reserved for the visiting supporters.

Tickets are now available for advance booking at Osang Video studio and Paro United café in Thimphu.  Phuntsho Wangdi said that the tickets would be issued from June 8.

Meanwhile, BFF is in negotiation with World Sports Group, a sports marketing, event management and media company in Asia on selling the TV rights to them.

By Younten Tshedup