Bhutan to enter soccer tournament

Officials from the Asian Football Confederation have announced that Bhutan will be entering a team for the first time in next year's South Asian football tournament.

The Himalayan kingdom, whose national team ranks 202 out of 203 nations in a Fifa table, has only recently become involved in international football, playing its first tournament in 1999.

Correspondents say the move to expand its football horizons is significant as the country has so far shown an interest only in promoting archery and the martial art, taekwondo.

Bhutan will join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh in the tournament, known as the Saff Cup.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service