ANFA failures proving disastrous for Nepal Football

Given the current situation, disappointing to say the least that Nepal football is not moving on the right track  and  continues to be in a downward spiral. There are no signs of progress whatsoever. It appears though everything has come to a screeching halt.

Nothing seems to have changed at all. It is not an overstatement to say that things are getting worse by the day. This has caused more doubts and more uncertainty.

It would be fair to say that the anticipated turnaround  of Nepal football in terms of progress is unlikely to happen in the near future. Apparently, Nepal  badly lags behind  in football and the future is looking increasingly  grim.

What is so concerning is that the environment is still far from  conducive for development, infrastructure and training facilities are pathetic and inadequate , players woes continue unabated and grassroots level football is negligible.

And to top it off, All Nepal Football Association  (ANFA) spearheaded by Narendra Shrestha is turning out to be nothing but a big joke. Since he took over the presidency, his administration has been an absolute disaster .

Let me repeat here Mr.Shrestha has shown no leadership and vision to develop and promote football, failing to make critics like me believe that there are glimmers of hope on the horizon.His administration has miserably failed to advance the needs and the interest of football. We have had nothing from them but months and months of underperformance and ultimate failure.

The fact of the matter is that we have heard  the same lame excuses for non-performance of work  by the football body for a long period of time. To put it bluntly, they are a bunch of incompetent officials who are not capable of doing their job.

It is unbelievable that ANFA has   failed to organize the National League for more than two years. This tells you a lot about them.  What can we expect from them ?

But despite everything, footballers have not  lost an inch of enthusiasm to play. Nor have their passion for the game waned.

One individual who had enough of ANFA is no other than international Karna Limbu.A month or so ago the  ace striker took to  the social networking site “Facebook”  to  criticize  the football body   for failing to bring about positive changes in Nepali football.

Limbu  was bold enough to make  his ire and frustration public.Indeed a thoroughly  genuine concern shared by most players. He hits the nail on the head.

I could not agree more with him. ANFA has failed the players and  is responsible for the decline of football and the problems associated with it. The situation has gotten so bad  that it is a struggle for players to make ends meet more than ever before.

Limbu is absolutely right. A vast majority of players refrain from criticizing ANFA , either for fear of risking their career or being shunned by the national selectors.They have literally remained tight lipped  when it comes to  football body’s mistreatment of players,mismanagement and maladministration,over the years.

What we have witnessed is, after players establish their place in the national team , they want to stick around long as possible. At no cost they wish  to cut short their career.On the other hand, budding footballers are desperately seeking opportunities to win selectors favour and prefer silence regardless .I don't blame them.

Obviously, they  are passionate about football and want to make football  their career. Further and even more importantly, they cherish to represent the country at some point.These two  factors drive them to play football no matter what the situation is.

They are fully aware that going against ANFA would backfire and most likely put an end to their career. It is a known  fact that the football  association will not  tolerate and take criticisms from players.

And they retaliate against critics  by ignoring them, silencing them  and turning them into pawns. Should the  selectors overlook Limbu for the upcoming match against Yemen,I will not be a bit surprised.

Remember disgraced ANFA Ex President Ganesh Thapa successfully employed the same tactics to silence his detractors( players, journalists, coaches and critics) for more than two decades.  

Nepalese Football Players Association established with the sole objective to fight for players’ rights and  welfare has been  a big  let down. They have remained literally passive all along and done  nothing to address players’ grievances. Their existence has become  irrelevant.

Surprisingly,ANFA Vice Presidents  Karma Tsering  Sherpa ,Bijaya Narayan Manandhar and Kishor Rai along with member Pankaj Nembang responsible for the ouster of Mr. Thapa have largely remained  silent on the issue and kept their heads down. What a disappointment!

For now the sorry decline of Nepali football has left players,coaches and  football aficionados frustrated and  in a state of despair like never seen before.