Suspended Ganesh Thapa still controls ANFA

Mr. Ganesh Thapa, no more, is President of All Nepal Football Association, thanks largely, to the world football governing body, however, he still wields significant influence.

At the helm of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) for more than two decades, Mr. Thapa disgraced himself and the country, leaving a tainted legacy marked by widespread corruption, abuse of power and mismanagement.

Contrary to expectations, he used ANFA he controlled for his own personal benefit all along, rather than significantly contributing to the growth and development of football in the country.

Disillusioned footballers, coaches, and fans suffered tremendously by his autocratic and egoistical style leadership. Their saturation point for frustration, helplessness, hopelessness and anger reached epic proportions, however, they could do nothing.  

Mr. Thapa had ample time and opportunity to prove himself a strong, capable and able leader and turn around the struggling Nepali football.

Unfortunately, he chose not to and turned out to be a disaster for Nepali football. The call for his ouster grew louder but all in vain.  He remained defiant.

 As a result, development had/has remained stagnant, and Nepali football has gone nowhere and will go nowhere.

To make matters worse, our toothless government failed to investigate him for corruption. Left without a choice, FIFA finally booted him out of office, much to everyone’s relief.

So far, there are no indications that the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will investigate the wrongdoing of Mr. Thapa, thus making a serious mockery of the anti- corruption war.

Mr. Thapa is gone but Nepali football landscape remains more or less the same. His handpicked sycophants are still in charge of ANFA. They remain fiercely loyal to him and are taking his instructions. Their actions speak a lot for them.

Forget not that, these people are   from Mr. Thapa ‘s inner circle and part of the problem, as well. They worked hand and glove with him till the day of his ouster.

They are incompetent and incapable of performing the necessary duties. It is very obvious that they will continue Mr.Thapa’s    failed, corrupt policies. And they are exactly doing that.

Can they be trusted? Not   at all. They have lost the moral authority to govern and do not deserve to be around.

When we have a chance for a fresh start and move Nepali football in the right direction, here we are, stuck in the same mess and milieu,unfortunately

Already ANFA has taken a handful of idiotic eye-raising decisions- controversial appointment of Narendra Shrestha as senior Vice- President of ANFA, pledge to back candidacy of President of AFC Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa for FIFA Presidency and recommendation to AFC to build schools in Hetauda

This is the same AFC that rewarded Gaurav Thapa son of Mr. Thapa by appointing him as AFC match commissioner.

It maybe recalled that junior Thapa was found to have received  $100,000 from former AFC President Hammam. At the time he was AFC member staff.

The present ANFA power brokers are fully aware that their re-election largely hinges on Mr.Thapa’s support. So they will continue to seek his blessings and push through his agenda irrespective of the situation.

Do not expect them to do things differently.  Already some of their actions have shown utter disrespect to the interest of Nepali football.

Mr. Thapa is most likely to promote his younger son for ANFA presidency in the next elections.

Mr. Keshab Kumar Bista, Member-Secretary of National Sports Council (NSC) has assured to look into the recent development of Nepali football and restore its horribly tainted image. He has done nothing but talk to date

What matters far more than words are actions to match those words, which we have not seen so far.

Everyone knows Mr. Thapa abused his power and position to unduly benefit himself and engaged in corruption for two decades.  Understandably, he needs to be thoroughly investigated for his wrong doings.

NSC has formed a five-member probe committee to investigate matters, ranging from Mr. Thapa’s suspension to match-fixing scandal. It is too early to write off the committee.  Hopefully it does not turn out to be irrelevant at the end of the day.

The government has failed to   take any action against Mr. Thapa because they think he is above the law, therefore, we cannot expect very much from the committee.

I doubt very much the committee’s findings and recommendations will be taken seriously.  In my opinion the committee is nothing more than a smoke screen.

As reported Mr. Purushottam Kattel, AFC’s international relations officer was in Kathmandu to get a first hand account of the current state of Nepali football.

Forget not that he has been a long time ally of Mr. Thapa. He got the position in AFC largely because of Mr. Thapa.   I just wonder what he observed and reported to AFC.

FIFA did the right thing to suspend but must further investigate Mr.Thapa’s involvement in large-scale corruption and bribery. Justice will be served only if he is not given a pass. Otherwise, it is back to business as usual in ANFA