Is ANFA President Ganesh Thapa above the law ?

President of All Nepal Football Association Ganesh   Thapa   is   in the news once again. He   has not changed one  bit and   continues   to repeat the same aggressive, arrogant and defiant attitude.

Despite corruption charges surrounding him, he   has maintained his innocence and acts like nothing ever happened. He has given absolutely no sign of easing verbal tirade against critics, detractors and refuses to   tone down his flimsy rhetoric.

His  comparison of Nepal with Argentina was so hilarious   to hear. It defied all logics and made no sense.  The poor guy even does not know that qualifying to the World Cup in itself is a   big   accomplishment.

As such, his hopeless and absurd analogy is a   clear sign   of desperation. He made himself the object of ridicule.  He is   a person willing to do anything to quash opposition and hang on to power.

I wonder what Mr.  Thapa   has to say   about Afghanistan’s   success   in   South Asian sports. The war torn country   does not even   have the infrastructure   close to us, yet they have been making strides, especially in football and cricket.

Now he has his cronies on their toes come to his defense, including the controversial Member -Secretary of National Sports Council (NSC) Yuvaraj Lama.

The biggest irony is that, Mr. Lama   had/has the audacity to praise   ANFA boss for his contribution to Nepali football but has preferred not to    mince words about   his new found buddy’s   corruption scandal.

By doing so Mr. Lama has proved himself as just another hypocritical bureaucrat.  He does not need to be reminded that with his job comes a lot of administrative and management responsibilities. He is expected to rise above the petty politics of self interest.

Mr. Lama  has joined hands with Mr. Thapa   so that he could keep playing the game of opportunism for his vested interests.

We have a Member Secretary who puts his own selfish interests above the national interests. What more do I need to say.

Coming back to Mr. Thapa, he has no    hesitation whatsoever in drawing ridiculous parallels when it comes to defending himself and his failed governance, no matter what. He does not give a damn   whether it makes sense or not.

Whenever faced with a barrage of criticisms, he   does what he   thinks is the best course of action to hit back at his critics,   even   if it means embarrassing, demeaning   himself. Everyone knows he does not care   about what you or I think.  

He  accused  critics of having a bias  towards the national team, thus causing demoralization in players. The accusation is absolutely baseless.

If the situation warrants, we have the right to criticize players or teams or coaches,   long as it is fair, valid and relevant. I agree, nobody likes criticism of any kind. However, constructive criticisms are indispensable and critical to quality performance.

The sole purpose of   criticism   is not intended as in the words of Mr. Thapa to demoralize or hurt players,    but to draw their attention to the good and bad aspect of their game and help them professionally.

Players must take criticisms with a pinch of salt, sportingly and in the right spirit. And it is very important that they learn from their mistakes.

In the context of Nepal,   our footballers   are rarely criticized.  If   criticized   it has been for good reasons for the most part. Understandably,   criticism in any form and shape is like a bitter pill, and can be hard sometimes for them to accept and digest it.

As a matter of fact, the press has been largely sympathetic towards them. Let us not forget that footballers are by no means immune to criticisms. They must/will   be criticized fairly if they deserve.

At the moment, Mr. Thapa’s strategy is to win the support of footballers. He   believes their support is crucial in his fight against his detractors. Some of them have already fallen into his trap, which is rather unfortunate.

Those who haven’t followed suit ought to think twice before throwing their weight around him. They got to realize that this is nothing but dirty politics, and he is using them as shields to protect his disastrous leadership, corrupt and bureaucratic administration.

Mr. Thapa appears to think   he is untouchable, above the law and above   everyone   in the country. He is yet to be investigated by the government   on charges   of   corruption   and abuse of power. Already there has been   public outcry over it.  I don’t understand the delay.

There are unconfirmed   reports that Commission   for the Investigation   of   Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has launched investigation into corruption allegations made against Mr. Thapa. Although a few local weekly newspapers have reported, however, the   mainstream media haven’t.

If the investigation has not started in earnest, the government is   shockingly    shying away from its duties. The longer we wait, the bolder and   arrogant   Mr. Thapa will become.

I have to conclude that the unfair preferential treatment meted out to Mr. Thapa, despite massive hue and cry from various quarters against   his involvement in the   corruption scandal is appalling and very unfortunate.

Is  Mr. Thapa   above the law ?   I think so. And I hope  I am wrong.