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The FIFA/Bhutan Football Federation Women’s Coaches Fitness Workshop kicked off on 21st November and ended on 24th November, 2022 which was held at Changjiji Football Ground. A three-day workshop is led by the FIFA consultant Mark Arnot. The workshop is part of the coach capacity building support from FIFA under the League Development project in their women’s development programs under the LD Project for building the capacity of coaches. A total of 23 participants attended the workshop who were the head coaches of the women’s clubs in the country and academy coaches of Thimphu and Gelephu. The workshop focused on women’s health, attitude, the importance of player profiling and long term athlete development. This workshop also laid the foundation for the coaches to further explore various fitness training specific to football in the country. “Fitness is an important competent and likewise it would benefit our coaches in taking the women’s game further ahead. Overall, the workshop was really great. It was very thorough for a 3-day workshop. We learned so much but also had fun.”- Physiotherapist, Gelephu Girl’s Academy “It was an absolute privilege to work with the Bhutanese coaches over the last 3 days at theFIFA workshop. We focused on some key areas, including player profiling, women’s health and the ltad model. The coaches passion for women’s football was evident in their questioning and commitment to the workshop.” – Mark Arnot, FIFA Consultant “In collaboration with the Coach of Education division, we felt that our coaches could benefit immensely from gaining insights into fitness training specific to football.We are very content with the knowledge we gained from the workshop. We must now make sure that we implement what we have gained from the workshop. I was really proud and happy to see our male counterparts take immense interest in the women’s health topic. If I am not wrong, this workshop was the first time the topic was ever discussed in coach education. It was nice to see they were very comfortable discussing the topic.” – Pema C. Tshering This workshop is the first time ever in Bhutan that the coaches were introduced to Women’s Health and its relation to athlete’s performance of which this new knowledge and understanding can only help improve the women’s game. The workshop ended with the distribution of certificates and most of the participants looking forward to a similar workshop in the future.

The Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) has embarked on a very ambitious social responsibility program ”Bridging the gap ”. BFF is reaching out to 5 most remote school Lingzi LSS, Soe ECR , Nimtola PS, Gatena PS and Barshong ECR in the country with disadvantaged youths and schools deprived of windows of opportunity and cohesion of developed competitiveness. Some schools do not have access to road and they have to walk for almost 1 days from the nearest road point to reach the school. And then to reach the capital where the program will be hosted, it will take almost 5 to 6 days of journey by bus and other means of travel. BFF believe that it is part of our core mission to utilize our role in society and, through football, change the lives of disadvantaged groups in society for the better. The main objective of the program are integration, education and development, experience , motivation and fun learning. To help disadvantaged children increase their football and communications skills in a safe and fun environment that is tailored to their special needs. Bhutan Football Federation  will be working closely with 5 most remote school in the country where we tie up with individual school to organize football coaching, grass root program, tailored made football tournaments and support with logistic, football equipment’s and planned events. This will be first of its kind program ever to be conducted by the Bhutan Football Federation, crossing the boundary to reach out to those young talented players. #bhutanff #bffsocialresponsibility #HomeOfHappiness

The Bhutan Football Federation in collaboration with NCWC and UNICEF Bhutan marked the world children’s day at Changlimithang Stadium today. The program was graced by the Hon’ble Health Minister and vice chairman of the National Commission for Women and Children Dasho Dechen Wangmo, His Excellency the Prime Minister Dasho Dr. Lotay, UNICEF Bhutan Representative Ms. Marie-Consolée Mukangendo, Officials from UN agencies, government partners, National football players, children’s and parents. Her Excellency stated that we must protect our children but at the same time we must take the responsibility to create an environment for them, so that they can thrive and reach their highest potential and each one of us, as a nation should take that responsibility very seriously. This year the World Children’s Day coincides with the ongoing Campaign to End Violence Against Children and the World Cup, which will kick off today, providing a unique opportunity to advocate about inclusion and to end violence against children. An exhibition match was played to celebrate the World Children’s Day lead by His Excellency the Prime Minister Dasho Dr. Lotay and Chencho Gyeltshen of Paro FC which included young players and women in their team.

The BFF Esport kicked off on 3rd of September, 2022. The two day knockout championship had a total of 20 participants  participating in the senior category while 6 participants participated in the junior category. In the first day, a total of 8 matches were played consisting of 3 rounds. Sonam Dorji the media and marketing officer of Bhutan Football Federation, who is hosting this year’s esport stated that the main reason to host the tournament is to let the youth engage their time more meaningfully and by letting them play video games we want to  make students smarter and more employable across a wider spectrum of careers including medical field, engineering, aviation, remote flying, computer sciences, and etc. Esports can boost children’s strategic thinking, teamwork, communication, leadership, performance skills and confidence building.   The quarter finalist of this year’s senior category, Mr. Tsewang Rinzin stated that it’s very important to play these games and this year the entry fee is much lesser as compared to previous years and the prizes are attractive too. Moreover, we get to know lots of friends who are very much interested in esports like me and like that we can build the Esports community in the country and more importantly it is a good platform in developing Esport in the community. The winner of the senior category who took home the cash prize of Nu.50000 stated that esports has become a global phenomenon throughout the years. He is not so sure being an esport player is easy, he considers himself a god but he doesn’t think that he is at that level yet. And he thinks Bhutan can actually join the likes of international players because unlike the past we have a lot of advanced moves like 5G, access to lots of esports accessories and much more improved technologies. He also mentioned that he plays esports for fun but hopes one day there will be representatives from Bhutan in a much bigger platform in a much professional way and consider it as a career. Winner Senior Category Mr.Songyal Samdrup Runner Up Mr.Tashi Dorji In the senior category, the finals were played between Mr.Sogyal Samdrup and Mr.Tashi Dorji   And in the junior category, the finals were played between Mr.Yeshi Tenzin Dorji and Mr.Kuendzin Tsheten Although there was a very strong competition between the two, Mr.Kuendzin Tsheten won both the sets to take home the cash prize of Nu. 6000. Bhutan Football Federation is going to host the Esports tournament twice every year so that the FIFA Esport community will be boomed and to engage the youths during the breaks.

The Bhutan Football Federation Women’s Club Licensing Workshop, 2022 in collaboration with FIFA club Licensing was held on 23rd October, 2022 at DusitD2 Yarkay in the capital. The advisors from FIFA for Women’s Club Licensing, Mr. Andres Portabella and Mr. Bruno Van Hellemont who attended the workshop presented the scenario of women’s club licensing around the globe . Various women’s clubs in the country who play the highest league of Women’s football presented about their club licensing journey while the head of women’s football in the country presented about Women’s Football in the country. The main facilitator of the workshop presented the club licensing criteria which has been implemented in the country. A total of 9 women’s clubs who play in the Kelme Women’s League, 2022 attended the workshop of which one new team(Bumtang Women’s FC) from who is going to play the league next year. Meanwhile, Mr. Andres Portabella and Mr. Bruno Van Hellemont, paid a visit to Thimphu Women’s FC, RTC Women’s FC and Paro Football Club who also runs Paro Women’s FC as a part of their visit to Bhutan. The hosts presented the infrastructure and shared the club’s vision for womens football.

The FIFA-MA Referee course 2022 started today in the capital. The course is facilitated by the FIFA Technical instructor Ms. Widiya from Malaysia and FIFA fitness instructor Ms. Tarasova Yuliya from Uzbekistan.The course which kicked off from today will end on 28 October, 2022. Previous Next

The one day AFC & BFF CLUB LICENSING CONFERENCE, 2022 was held on 17th September, 2022 at Tashi Namgay Resort in Paro. The club licensing managers of A and B division clubs and the club licensing managers of 3 districts(Tsirang, Punakha and Samtse) who won the district league attended the conference. Topics such as Disciplinary Matters & Legal Criteria, Result of 2021 Club Licensing, AFC New Criteria, Club Assessment, Core Process Timeline were discussed in the conference. A total of 8 clubs implemented the BFF Club Licensing in 2021 and this year a total of 11 clubs will be implementing the BFF Club Licensing.

Today marked the start of the Changjiji, Thimphu location of the Bhutan Football Federation-Asian Football Confederation (BFF-AFC) “A” Diploma Coaching Course, 2022. Mr. Ugyen Wangchuk, the General Secretary of BFF, attended the course’s inauguration ceremony. The one-month course’s main goals are to improve participants’ knowledge and encourage them to pursue careers in coaching. On the other hand, it will support the nation’s efforts to produce coaches of high caliber. There are 16 participants from different clubs and academies, 11 of whom are male coaches, and 5 of whom are female coaches. The course will run from September 13 to October 13 of 2022, during which time participants will learn how to construct a playing philosophy, as well as teachings on sports science, player mental conditioning, and field tactics for both defending and attacking. To help them better understand the coaching instructions provided during the course, participants were also taken to practical sessions in addition to theory lectures. All participants must, however, pass their exam in order to be qualified as licensed coaches class “A.” Facilitating the course as the Coach Instructor is Mr. Vincent Subramaniam (lead tutor) assisted by Mr. Kinley Dorji (Head of Coach Education) and Mr. Ugyen Dorji(Amateur Head).

Bhutan Football Federation conducted  safeguarding  and integrity workshop for the  Referee Development Course in Phunakha . #bhutanfootball #homeofhappiness