Delhi was awash with Tibetans this Saturday as a much-publicised but unofficial ‘international’ soccer match was due to be played between organisers of the ‘national’ team and a select Delhi All Star XI.

However, with the Chinese Olympic Games just a year away, the Indian authorities were extremely wary of staging the game, being additionally sensitive as parts of Tibet remain disputed territory between the two two countries. Organised from Dharamsala, the Delhi Police revoked the licences of three sports venues to try and put the match off from being held. However, due to swelling numbers of monks and other Tibetans and Nepalese who had travelled to Delhi specifically for the game, the match eventually took place at the grounds of Delhu University for reasons of public safety.

A heavy police presence managed the crowd of about 7,000, with any anti-Chinese protests quickly subdued, although for the most part the supporters were well behaved. As to the final result, Tibet beat the Delhi All Stars, 5-1.

As Tibet is part of China, the match was not ratified by FIFA and Tibet does not appear in the FIFA world rankings. However, the Chinese Football Association have been investigating the possibility of a team from the Tibetan SAR playing in the Chinese First Division, with Tibetan ‘home’ matches possibly being played at Taiyuan in Shanxi Province due to altitude difficulties in Lhasa, with a decision possibly due for the 2008 season.