“National League”- ANFA’s biggest failing

It is long overdue. By now a full-fledged National   Football League should have been in place, running full swing in the country. Instead   we are still waiting for this to happen. At the same time, we have to ask ourselves will it ever happen.

Leave alone running the National Football League (NFL), All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) led by Ganesh Thapa has turned   a blind eye to the most important domestic competition for well over two decades.

Yet no one has questioned this? It’s simply ridiculous and unbelievable. These are the same   people, don’t forget,   who shamelessly keep pounding their chests claiming they have done so much for Nepal football. 

The failure   to organize the NFL   is one of the biggest   failings   of   the football body in the last 21 years. How could they be   so uninterested and ignore   the importance of NFL   that   goes to the heart of   the development of local players for so long.   

In my opinion, either ANFA is totally incapable of   organizing the competition or intentionally undermining its importance.

I have no words to describe my anger, disillusionment and frustration. I guess everyone feels the same way.

If I am not mistaken, Nepal is the only country in South Asia sans NFL. Even Bhutan   has   the national league that started two years ago.

All these years, ANFA’s effort to run the NFL has been half-hearted and futile. I am at a loss to know how a tournament of such magnitude can be blatantly overlooked

The   biggest irony is that   ANFA organizes national and international tournaments year in, year out but not the NFL. What a shame! What   is stopping them from organizing the NFL?  I am clueless.

There is no excuse for failing to run the competition. Let us not forget, leadership is about taking responsibilities, not making lame excuses.

A couple of years ago, ANFA came up with the NFL concept. It was   tried out in Pokhara, however, discontinued the following year for unexplained reasons.

The absence of NFL has hurt mostly clubs based outside of Kathmandu Valley. Unlike, the Valley based Clubs   that   compete in Martyr’s League; they   have   been   denied a league of similar size and stature.

Instead they are   left to compete in sub-standard competitions organized by the District Football Associations (DFA)   on   an irregular basis.  Apparently, the clubs are being unfairly treated, discriminated and abandoned by ANFA. This   established practice has been going on for a very long time.

The under-funded DFAs packed with Mr.  Ganesh Thapa’s handpicked cronies   are equally guilty. They have done nothing about it. They are not taking their responsibilities seriously and   have opted to remain silent, fearing that they might lose the perks of office provided by Mr. Thapa.

As a   consequence, district football is in such shambles and countless young aspiring players have been denied the chance to reach their potential.

If you think Martyr’s League is the National League, you are absolutely wrong and your knowledge of Nepal football is very limited. Essentially, it is a   four-tiered competition exclusively   for Kathmandu Valley based teams.

To ANFA   Martyr’s League is the NFL. They have put   a high priority and a lot of funding into the competition. All they have done is raise the prize money but   taken no steps investing in infrastructure and   stadiums.

There is a centralized policy in place that is restricting development of football in districts and isolating majority of clubs across the country.

There are no indications that ANFA would change the policy in the future. I very much doubt that will ever happen.

ANFA   has been investing a significant   chunk of its budget and resources in Kathmandu Valley, the epicenter of football activities.  By doing so, they have   benefitted   to some degree from   publicity and public relations standpoint.

On the other hand,   DFAs basically get whatever is   left over from the budget that is tantamount to nothing.

ANFA has decided to organize the so called national league later this year. We will have to wait and see whether this is only another pony show like the   past ones.

By suspending the four   agitating Kathmandu based A division clubs for a year from participating in any tournament organized or recognized by the football body, Mr. Thapa, once again,  has flexed his   muscle to demonstrate his  control,  highhandedness and arrogance.

Their action is bound to backfire seriously on them. The ongoing wrangling between the warring parties could potentially have far reaching consequences. This does not augur well for Nepal football.

International football has changed dramatically,   immeasurably, over the century, however, Nepal football is still stuck in the twentieth century and held hostage to ANFA.

The bottom line is:  Mr. Thapa and his associates does not give a damn and are responsible for the lack of progress and the sorry state of Nepali football.