ANFA President Ganesh Thapa facing growing dissent

It   appears, though, all is   not so honky dory   for the longest serving  President of All Nepal Football Association Ganesh Thapa.

Lately,   self made authoritarian Thapa    has come under fire from all   quarters. He   faces   for the first time serious opposition from his own people and a handful of journalists who are bold enough to speak up in a long time.

Recently, two of his vice-presidents Karma Tshering Sherpa and Bijay Narayan   Manandhar came out firing on all cylinders, making public Thapa’s authoritative   style leadership, mismanagement and misappropriation of funds

They   expressed shock, outrage and accused him of lacking   transparency, accountability, leadership and administrative qualities.

Likewise, another vice president   Kishor Rai  Jhapali  got on the band wagon. He   was  highly critical of Thapa’s highhandedness, one man show, secrecy and disregard for  other members of the football body.

He  came heavily  down  on his boss  and  alleged that he had become drunk with  power.  He blasted Thapa for   keeping them in the dark about   the closure of three technical centers in Dharan, Chysal and Dharan.

But the bigger question is :  why did it take this long for the three VPs to  speak out against Thapa ? They have   been in the football body for a long period of time and   long supported, endorsed and approved  his actions and  decisions.

If they really   have   had enough of his dictatorial style leadership, they should have quit a long time ago and called for his resignation.  Why did they choose not   to ?

In my humble opinion, these people are nothing more than opportunists. Don’t be taken aback, should they broker a deal with Thapa, they will throw their weight behind him once again.

The closure of the technical centers  came as a shocker for many, including me. At a time when the need is for more  centers in the country, the closure is a   disaster   and   does not bode well for Nepal football which has remained stagnant for the past 20 years.

It is nice to have the first astro  turf in the country,  and I would like to  commend  and congratulate the football body. That being said,  no doubt, it is   beneficial   for footballers, but at what cost?

I strongly believe it should not be at the expense of technical centers. At the moment, the state of affairs with Nepal football can hardly be sadder. The need for infrastructure development, support for   grass roots   and   district   football is more pressing than ever.

The biggest irony, however, is that, Thapa has the money for more astro turfs but cannot keep the existing  technical centers  running  due to lack of funds.  This is sheer and utter ludicrosity. It really does not get much worse than this.  Can it!

Obviously, in the wake of mounting criticism, the overhyped astro turf  issue   is nothing but a counter stunt executed by Thapa  to  suppress criticism   and dissent.

In addition, All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is facing the wrath of Kathmandu based A Division Clubs. The recently formed Club Coordination Committee comprising Friends Club, Himalayan Sherpa FC, Machhindra FC and 

Saraswati FC  have  threatened to   boycott all programs   of  ANFA unless   their share of prize money and  preparation expenses of the last  season are paid.

Also the ongoing differences between ANFA and some   Kathmandu based clubs and District Football Associations (DFA) in regards to   the proposed Nepal National League is a reminder that things are getting pretty serious .

Thapa,   however, bald-facedly   thinks differently and rebuffs criticism of him. For someone like him who just cannot take or digest criticism, the turn of events, definitely has left a bad taste in his mouth. But he pretends to be unfazed and unconcerned at all.

Despite everything, he has his ways to silence critics .   His   strong arm tactics, undue influence and coercion   to eliminate  opponents are well known. So far,  it  has worked and is working for him.  

It is a fact that his   detractors lack   inner unity and outer strength to pose a serious challenge to Thapa. It is known that they easily   succumb to his dirty and intimidating   ploys.

He is   seemingly obsessed   with power, control and money. He has shown time and again that he  will do whatever it takes to hang on to the power. As President of ANFA for   more than twenty years, Thapa   along with   his most loyal VP  Lalit Krishna Shrestha has ruled  and will  continue to  rule with an iron hand.

In fact money has   been   pouring into   ANFA with much of it coming   from FIFA   for the development of football   on a regular basis. FIFA   claims that it    keeps track of all   financial transactions of member bodies but much of it has been unaccounted for.

Although   serious allegations   of misappropriation of funds and   corruption against Thapa have    surfaced lately,   the Commission for the  Investigation of Abuse of  Authority (CIAA) has turned a blind eye and  is guilty of letting him  off the hook.

When they should have been investigating him   and auditing ANFA’s financial   statements with regularity, they have remained silent spectators with their fingers crossed. Both CIAA and Sport Ministry are   nothing but a disgrace.

The way things stand today, nobody will stop or challenge Thapa. This will   further enable   him to tighten and extend his grip on power. This is very unfortunate for Nepal football.