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The Bhutan national football team represents Bhutan in men's international football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in Bhutan, the Bhutan Football Federation, which is a member of the Asian Football Federation and the regional body the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The national football team of Bhutan plays its home games at the national stadium, Changlimithang.
Transport United Football Club is a Bhutanese professional football club based in Thimphu that competes in the Bhutan Premier League, the top level of Bhutanese football. The club was founded in 2001 and plays at the Changlimithang Stadium. Transport United has won five national championships, and was a dominant force in Bhutanese football throughout much of the first decade of the 21st century.
Druk Stars Football Club, sometimes referred to as Druk Star, was a Bhutanese football club from Thimphu. The team have won the national championship twice and competed in the A-Division from 2002, when they won their first title, through to 2010, having won a second title in 2009. They were absent from the A-Division in 2011, but played and won the 2012 B-Division. Returning to the top flight, they qualified for the National League for the first time in 2014. In addition to their two A-Division and one B-Division title, they have also represented Bhutan in the AFC President's Cup in 2010.
Drukpol Football Club, sometimes referred to as Druk Pol, was a football club from Thimphu, Bhutan. Until 1996, the team was called Royal Bhutan Police FC. Drukpol FC has won the A-Division championship a record eight times, more than any other team in Bhutan. The team's home ground was Changlimithang Stadium.
The Bhutan national futsal team represents Bhutan in men's international futsal. The team is controlled by the governing body of football and futsal in Bhutan, the Bhutan Football Federation, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Federation and the regional body the South Asian Football Federation. Futsal used to be very much in an embryonic stage of development in Bhutan, with the team only having played eight competitive matches. A national team was selected at very short notice for the fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Incheon, Korea, in 2013. In their first game, they were soundly beaten 29–1 by Thailand, despite scoring through Dawa Dhendup in the first minute. The team is currently ranked 150th and last in the world futsal rankings. By establishing National League and investing in futsal infrastructure, conditions have significantly improved since then.
Football is a sport with a comparatively brief history in Bhutan, having had an initial period of favour in the mid-twentieth century, when it was first introduced to the country by visiting teachers from India and Europe. It has only achieved significantly renewed popularity in the early 2000s, following the advent of satellite television broadcasting, with historically national sport being archery. Consequently, the domestic game was underdeveloped. After the establishment of an initial league in the late 1980s, little in the way of recorded competition took place until the mid-1990s when a formal championship, the A-Division, was created. Football became the most popular sport in Bhutan.
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FC Terton was a Bhutanese football club based in Thimphu which most recently competed in the 2022 Bhutan Premier League Qualifiers. In 2015, they became Bhutan's national champions for the first and only time, and subsequently represented the country in the AFC Cup.
Tsenda Dorji is a Bhutanese professional footballer who last played as a striker for Transport United FC in the Bhutan Premier League. He also plays for the Bhutan national team.
Kinga Wangchuk is a Bhutanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Paro FC in the Bhutan Premier League and the Bhutan national team.
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References
- 1 2 "Football clubs signs domestic players". Kuensel Online.
- ↑ "BFF to take disciplinary action involving Rinpung players and referee". Kuensel Online.
- ↑ "โขงชีมูลคว้าแข้งภูฏานพ่วงสี่แข้งไทยร่วมทีมเลกสอง". Supersub Thailand (in Thai).
- 1 2 "Rising Bhutanese footballer Dawa Tshering joins Delhi FC". Kuensel Online. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ↑ "World Cup fever catches national players". Kuensel Online.
- ↑ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Bhutan vs. Palestine". www.national-football-teams.com.
