Government must resolve the crisis facing Nepal football promptly

Football, the most popular sport in Nepal continues to go through a standstill phase, like never before much to sport  enthusiasts disbelief, agony,frustration, chagrin and disappointment.

Since All Nepal Football Association(ANFA) was indefinitely suspended by the world football governing body FIFA for third party interference in the last week of June 2026,football development has been severely impacted. 

It has disrupted both the men and women’s   domestic and international football activities in a big way. The suspension bans the men and women ‘s national teams and clubs from competing in the FIFA and Asian Football Confederation(AFC)  sanctioned international tournaments.

Furthermore,FIFA and AFC have stopped  granting  funds for  development,training programs, projects, promotion and  organization of  events.

There is an air of uncertainty,dismay, discontentment,dissatisfaction and resentment in the air as there are no indications of the suspension ending soon.

Consequently,it has paved the way for an uncertain and unpredictable future for footballers who are in pursuit of a football career.

Lamentably and deplorably the government  has  not taken the matter  seriously by letting the suspension prolong at the cost of Nepal football and footballers.

There has been no  all-out effort to negotiate with FIFA to end the suspension that is crippling football development on all fronts without further delay.

Given the  current situation,it is hard to figure out how long the suspension will continue.The time frame is unpredictable unless the government  undertakes negotiations with FIFA to resolve the 

issue,which is a must to put Nepal football back in  the right direction, end players anxiety and misery at the earliest.

 

The ongoing crisis is the biggest ever in the history of Nepal football.In the last several decades there  had been numerous cases mostly related to ANFA leadership, corruption and maladministration but  none were   devastating  and damaging as the current one.

The longer the impasse lasts,it is bound to go from bad to worse,putting a stranglehold on football development and negatively impacting players further.

Already grass roots level football,coupled with structural development have dramatically lagged behind.Football stakeholders have been affected and shaken up as well. 

It will not be a surprise if they rethink  and reevaluate their sponsorship approach and strategies when it comes to supporting football.

The rising generation of  young footballers 

across the country are hit hard by the  

crisis.They have been overwhelmed with frustration,uncertainty, anguish,gloom and dejection.

For the time being, unfortunately,it  has closed opportunities for them to play competitive football internationally and adversely affected  their growth.There is now a question mark over their football dream.

The present crop of players have found themselves  in a dilemma  and are stranded from  a competitive stand point. 

The uninspiring and sad state of  football   has led to some of the players reconsider their career in football. 

 

Also there are  reports of  a few players retiring prematurely and leaving the country for good.

A good number of men and women footballers have been exploring avenues to keep themselves competitively active. They have joined clubs in Bhutan India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Maldives and Cambodia  

With both  men’s A Division Martyr's Memorial league  and Nepal Super League stalled, players have been pushed into a helpless state.Left with no option, some of them have been playing in local tournaments  in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Assam, Calcutta and Sikkim in India. 

Women footballers are in a similar position like the men.They  are in a fix with the abandonment of  2025-2026 ANFA Women’s  League on the domestic football front.

It’s been close to four months into suspension, already both the men and women's national teams across different  age groups have missed out participation in a number of important international tournaments owing to the suspension. 

The women’s teams  have been  denied participation in AFC Women’s Champions League,AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers and AFC U20  Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers so far.

Most likely the men’s national team will  not feature in the upcoming South Asian Football Federation Championship taking place in Bangladesh next month. It will be their first non-participation in the tournament’s history. 

The  suspension is keeping  Nepal football teetering on the brink of  disaster and long term systemic crisis in terms of  governance, management,finance, infrastructure and  grass roots level development and sponsorship.

The government must not  any longer continue to become a mere spectator, letting the crisis deteriorate further. 

They have to do everything in their capacity to nip  it in the bud to safeguard Nepal football and frustrated, depressed footballers, coaches, fans ,officials and all those  related to football across the country.

They should not forget the fact that  the future of football rests on their shoulders, and it is their responsibility to resolve the crisis  as promptly as possible.