Nepal football in deep crisis

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As things  stand now, Nepal  football is reeling under a huge  crisis,causing  further prolongation in uncertainty and unpredictability.


Consequently,football development and progress has taken a back seat over the years. There has been a sharp decline in the performance of national teams across all age groups as their struggle in international competitions continue unabated.


The teams’ struggle is largely due to the sorry state of football in the country and  failure to carry  out  their responsibilities  on the part of  the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA).


Since the takeover of ANFA spearheaded by Mr. Pankaj Bikram Nembang four years ago, football development  has been  at a snail’s pace.


They have totally  failed to spur the much needed development of football in the country. No  wonder, the state of sport remains stagnant and far from desired.


The football body has been plagued by controversies,mismanagement,weak leadership,maladministration,petty politics and factionalism for the most part.


Furthermore, ANFA’s  complete failure  to create a conducive environment for  football development to thrive and sustain led to the  resignation of both foreign coaches of men’s and women’s national teams well before their contracts expired.


The football association  exposed itself for failing to organize the Martyr’s  Memorial A  Division League  for three years.


As a result, infuriated and frustrated players and  football clubs   took to the streets protesting ANFA’s incompetence and inability to hold the league and demanded its  immediate resumption. 


Likewise,  protesting members of the Nepal Football  Player Association  went to the extent of locking the main office of the football body in Satdobato.


The recent conflict  between the National Sports Council(NSC)  and ANFA  over  the  approval for the use of stadium and ground and issues related to floodlights  and scoreboard  led to the cancellation of the friendly match against Hong Kong scheduled for March 36. Additionally, the second friendly match against China also has been cancelled .Both sides traded barbs,accusing each other of being responsible for the cancellation of the friendly matches.


As  I write,Nepal football crisis has deepened  and hit an all time low with the NSC suspending ANFA  for three months over  election issues. Certainly, the situation has gone from bad to worse.


ANFA was gearing up for early election   (three months prior to the  actual election date),defying  NSC’s repeated  warnings  against it and  for failing to comply with the National Sports Development Act , 2077 and the National  Sports Development Regulations,2079.


For the  first time  in  the history of Nepal  football NSC has suspended ANFA .


Undoubtedly, Nepal football is in dire straits ,paving way to unprecedented uncertainty.This is bound to have  short and long term damaging ramifications on the development of football and players.


We will have to wait and see how  the world football  governing body and Asian Football Confederation react and respond to NSC’s action.


My only fear is  FIFA suspending ANFA  for an indefinite period of time on the basis of third party undue  influence and interference.


For now let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that the situation ends on  a positive note.










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