Yielding to pressure ANFA announces starting date for Martyr’s Memorial A Division league

 

The spotlight is back on the All Nepal Football Association for its failure to hold the  country’s top level men’s Martyr’s Memorial A Division  football league in Kathmandu with regularity.

It is beyond imagination that the league that holds immense significance in the development of players has been stalled by the All Nepal Football Association 

( ANFA) for the last two years.

Despite being mindful of the importance of the league, ANFA spearheaded by Pankaj Bikram Nembang is guilty of failing to provide continuity to the competition.

As the responsible party,they should have done whatever it took/takes to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted  league run.

Apparently,they made little or no efforts to stage the league,totally overlooking the need, importance and lasting effects on players,hindering their development and performance.

This is nothing but a clear neglect of  responsibilities on their part. If they are incapable of organizing the league on a regular basis,how can we  expect them to push the overall development of football in the country as desired.

Instead ANFA scrambled to  organize the National League involving 17 teams from across the country to shut down critics.

The participating teams had little time to prepare for  the  competition.Since the A Division league was in limbo for a lengthy period of time the football clubs felt isolated and were  critical of ANFA for not fulfilling their responsibilities.

In a display of discontentment, frustration, resentment and protest  over the failure  to organize the A Division league for two seasons by the football  body,Nepal Football Player Association took an extreme step by locking  the main office  of  ANFA in Satdobato in Lalitpur to pile pressure on them.

Besides,they demanded that players welfare fund  be established and payment of overdue prize money and allowances given to players without any further delay .

The tactic paid off with  ANFA announcing the  starting date of the  A Division league.They agreed to meet the other two demands as well. 

Like past  ANFA administrations, the present administration has taken the same path and done nothing noteworthy to change the landscape of Nepal football in terms of development.

Since Mr.Nembang  led  administration took charge of ANFA  in  2022 they  have been riddled with weak leadership, poor governance, mismanagement,corruption allegations,petty politics  and controversies.

Consequently,the state of football  has remained stagnant and continues to trend downward,creating further uncertainty and frustration in players and sports aficionados. 

It is no surprise that the national teams across all age groups continue to struggle in international competitions.

It is obvious that football development has fallen behind due to the failure of successive ANFA  administrations.

With the ANFA election around the corner,we can only hope that  truly committed, honest, capable, selfless, non-political, competent and visionary executives who can take Nepal football in the right direction are elected.

Otherwise,the possibility of the present state  of affairs changing for good is less likely. And it is bound to double  players' woes and severely hinder the development of football.