Kathmandu, Sept. 30 -- Unless a miracle happens on Wednesday, Nepal are all set to miss a tournament of the South Asian Football Federation for the first time in history. SAFF's September 30 deadline to lift the country's FIFA suspension expires on Wednesday.

SAFF has been very flexible in Nepal's case. During the group draw ceremony on August 1, the South Asian footballing body had granted Nepal a window of two months to settle the issues, have the suspension lifted and open the path to participate in the 15th SAFF Men's Championship, which is being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in November.

While Nepal were not drawn into any of the two groups, SAFF had declared it'd include Nepal in the group of the hosts if Nepal succeeds in having the...