Ganesh Thapa must Pack Up & Leave ANFA

Amidst suspense, drama and speculations, President of the world football governing body Mr. Seep Blatter finally decided to call it a day. Come December, he will be gone, leaving behind a tainted legacy.

The defiant seventy-nine year old Swiss decision to step down, after he was re-elected president for a record fifth term, came as a complete bombshell, taking everyone by surprise.

At the same time, the news of his resignation brought relief and was greeted with joy by the football fraternity across the globe.

After 17 years at the helm of power, Mr. Blatter had to throw in the towel in the face of mounting pressure as the FIFA corruption scandal intensified.

The indictment of top FIFA officials and the alleged involvement of his right hand man FIFA’s general secretary Jerome Valcke in $10 million bribe for votes scandal put the final nail in Mr. Blatter’s coffin.

With the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Swiss government aggressively investigating the FIFA corruption scandal and determined to leave no stones unturned, Mr. Blatter faced an uphill battle and was left with no choice but to resign.

More arrests are expected as the FIFA corruption dragnet widens and gets bigger by the day, internationally.

It is very obvious that   corruption had/has been systemic, deep-rooted and rampant at FIFA and football associations around the world for years.

Indisputably, the dramatic unraveling of FIFA corruption underscores the unethical practice of corruption on part of Mr. Blatter and his cronies in their attempt to hang on to power.

First and foremost, the world football governing body   needs to be cleansed   from top to bottom to get rid of corruption to revive its brand image.  

At the same time, those individuals involved in the corruption scandal must be removed from office, as well.

There is no reason why they should be dealt with any leniency.  FIFA must not show them any leniency, whatsoever. They are just guilty as those already indicted.

FIFA ought to act hard and fast against power obsessed and corrupt administrator like President of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Ganesh Thapa who has been linked to massive corruption for over two decades.

Let me rewind and give you some context here. Forgetting not that Mr. Thapa was a very close ally of the ousted disgraced former Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed Bin Hammam.

As long as the Qatari was in power, Mr. Thapa was literally indomitable and stood to benefit financially in a very big way.

Besides, he is accused of abuse of power, and he has always relied upon strong-arm tactics like   pressure, intimidation, coercion and humiliation to silence critics.

He is a shrewd manipulator and gets what he wants. I will give you one example of his massaging skills.

Remember, after the fall of Mr. Hammam, he was well aware that he needed Mr. Blatter’s blessings to retain his power and influence at ANFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

It did not take him long to mend fences with Mr. Blatter. He meticulously crafted a plan to pledge loyalty to the FIFA boss.

He had Mr. Blatter come to Kathmandu to inaugurate the AFC Challenge Cup in 2012 as per the plan.  The plan was a masterstroke on Mr.Thapa’s part. 

On the other hand, conceivably, the FIFA chief assured his full support to Mr. Thapa on all fronts in exchange for his FIFA elections vote. Rest is history.

No wonder Mr. Thapa has remained insubmissive, unruffled in the face of corruption charges. He was confident that he would escape unscathed because of his connections to Mr. Blatter’s team. Soon that might not be the case anymore in light of recent developments.

The ANFA boss has been repeatedly exposed for his misdeeds both by the national and international media, time and again.

The Sunday Times (British newspaper), Reuters and Associated Press   have reported about the illegal payments Mr. Thapa received. . 

Likewise, the report by international accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) implicated Mr. Thapa and his son in corrupt dealings.

On the home front, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) charged Mr. Thapa for financial irregularities at ANFA amounting to Rs.581. 7 million and ordered the government to investigate him.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) headed by Lokman Singh Karki, however, made a mockery of the office of Chief Commissioner for failing to act tough on   Mr. Thapa and putting the case on hold.

The CIAA is a toothless bulldog when it comes to dealing with the most corrupt sport administrator the country has ever seen.

Similarly, Minister Purushottam Paudel and Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama are a disgrace to Sports Ministry and National Sports Council respectively. They have failed to properly investigate   Mr. Thapa for alleged corruption charges.

It is ironic that FIFA had inside knowledge about cash transactions at ANFA. They admitted having identified unappropriated cash movements which led to an examination of ANFA by the international auditors KPMG, working in partnership with FIFA.

 FIFA Ethics Committee targeted ANFA also, but the investigation was merely a formality.

When FIFA should have relieved Mr. Thapa of his duties promptly, instead they spoke out in his defense.  The committee concluded that as recommended ANFA was implementing corrective measures to improve financial management and governance. What a joke?

Furthermore, in another twist in the tale, Gaurav Thapa, the son of Ganesh Thapa was appointed AFC match commissioner despite the fact that he is listed in the PwC audit as one of the many who received illegal payments from Mr. Hammam. How bad can it get?

It appears though Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa who was re-elected President of the AFC is in the making of another Mr. Hammam. This   just proves how undemocratic, corrupt AFC is getting. The Asian football body needs to be investigated for corruption like FIFA.

If Mr. Thapa thinks he can get away this time, he is dead wrong. That said, I would be absolutely shocked if FIFA lets him get away. The best course of action would be for him to stand down.