Nepal football in a state of limbo

With the recent indefinite suspension of the All Nepal Football Association by the world football governing body FIFA, Nepal football has plunged deeper into crisis.

The decision  to  suspend   All Nepal Football Association ( ANFA)with immediate  effect  was made  for flagrant violations of the  Article 14 of FIFA statutes because of third party interference.

This is the first time in the history  of Nepal football, ANFA headed by Mr. Pankaj Bikram Nembang was  suspended.

It  all started  with serious  disagreement between the football association and the Nepal Sports Council(NSC)  over early election of ANFA planned  by the former and opposed  by the latter. 

Since the  warring sides failed to  find a common ground,it ultimately led to the suspension of ANFA at the expense of Nepal football.

As a matter of fact,NSC went overboard by  suspending ANFA for three months.  At the time of the suspension, the  football association was in the process of holding early elections mandated by both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.

Prior to suspending ANFA,NSC  pressurized ANFA to make amendments to the football association statutes under the country’s sports development. 

ANFA’s refusal to do so led to its suspension.The action taken  by NSC was a direct third party interference in FIFA’s book of statutes.

As a consequence,both men and women’s national teams of all age groups  and clubs are barred from competing in international tournaments. 

More importantly,ANFA will be totally cut off  from FIFA and AFC’s  programs related to development and funding.

It is a massive blow to Nepal football and footballers across the country,bringing in more uncertainty, chaos,frustration and ignominy.

It may be recalled that In 2016  FIFA ethics committee had taken action against then  ANFA President Ganesh Thapa for bribery and money embezzlement, banning him for ten years.

ANFA led by Mr.Nembang was a huge disappointment and a disaster.It was bogged down by incompetence, mismanagement,maladministration,

bureaucracy,unaccountability, weak leadership, dereliction of duty and systemic failures.

They  completely failed to execute their responsibilities to take development to new heights and change the face of Nepal football,

Over the last four years they hardly did anything  meaningful, productive, encouraging, reassuring and uplifting to push development activities forward.

Put simply, they proved their incompetence,inability and irresponsibility by failing to organize  Division A League on a regular basis.This resulted in protests from players and football clubs. 

 

The failure to organize the league exposed them to the hilt, making it very clear that they  are incapable of  governing  and do not deserve to be in charge of the football association.

Consequently, football development stagnated and  badly impacted the national teams  performances  across 

all ages in international competitions as they have been going through a struggling phase to date.

The administration was mired in corruption  charges, scandals,governance  issues, controversies, petty politics and internal wrangling.

Given the  unconducive, unstable,poor and declining state of football, young aspiring footballers across the  country  have been overcome with  frustration and disappointment.Their dream of  representing the  country and becoming professional footballers is getting increasingly far-fetched.

Unsurprisingly,over the years a significant number of active  players have left for overseas,putting an early end to their playing career.If Nepal football continues to head in the same direction, more players are likely to leave the country.

Grass roots football,youth football and  infrastructure development have badly lagged behind, stagnating the progress of football on all fronts.

ANFA’s systemic administrative failures, mismanagement,weak leadership, incompetence,corruption,petty politics and factionalism over several decades have   stalled development,placing Nepal football in crossroads to date.

As long as ANFA is in the hands of  incompetent,inept,dishonest,corrupt,

unqualified, self-serving and politicized officials,Nepal football will continue to take a downhill  path, stagnating development. 

There will be no end to footballers' woes, frustration,grievance,annoyance, resentment and disappointment. 

Prior to the suspension,Nepal football was already on the decline on all fronts  and accelerating .

The latest FIFA suspension has added fuel to the fire, pushing football deeper into a state of limbo.

The government blundered  by disregarding FIFA’s third party interference rules at the cost of  football and footballers.

They must  make efforts  to end the suspension at the earliest to safeguard Nepal football from  further disruption and rapid deterioration.

In the past FIFA had imposed a similar ban  on India, Pakistan,Kenya,Zimbabwe, Chad and Nigeria