ANFA agrees to hold A Division league within 120 days

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 12: The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and A Division clubs have agreed to organise the Martyr's Memorial A Division League within 120 days.

The decision was made during a stakeholder meeting held on Tuesday at Singha Durbar. 

The meeting was called by Youth and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta and attended by ANFA officials, representatives from all 14 A Division clubs, the Nepal Football Players’ Association, and the national team captain.

In the live broadcasted meeting, Minister Gupta asked ANFA to propose a date for the league, after which he would discuss it with the clubs. In response, ANFA President Pankaj Nembang suggested a timeline of 120 days.

Minister Gupta said, “ANFA should now propose a date for the A Division League. I will then present that date to the clubs. I’ll also hold a meeting with them tomorrow.”

Following pressure from the Minister, ANFA President Pankaj Bikram Nembang and General Secretary Rai were compelled to set a deadline. 

“If the clubs want to play, we’ll hold the A Division League even if we have to pause the National League,” Rai said. He added that fixing a date would not be a problem for ANFA.

President of the Players’ Association, Bikram Lama, said it would be ideal to start the league before March 5. “Let’s begin the league before the elections,” he said. “We can then pause it during the election period and resume it afterwards.”

Previously, on 3 November, ANFA and club representatives agreed to begin the National League on 24 December and hold the A Division League next December.

As no league is going to take place this year, the Nepal Football Players’ Association staged a protest in front of ANFA Complex last Thursday. They warned that if the A Division League was not confirmed within a week, they would continue their agitation.

Following a letter from the Minister’s private secretariat, the National Sports Council (NSC) invited ANFA to the meeting. ANFA then sent letters to the relevant stakeholders on Monday.

In an earlier meeting, Minister Gupta proposed forming a five-member task force led by ANFA CEO Indraman Tuladhar. The task force was asked to recommend a plan to start the league within 50 days.

After concerns were raised about the lack of player representation, Association President Bikram Lama and Treasurer Bishal Shrestha were added to the task force.

Before the task force submitted its report, ANFA and the clubs agreed to postpone the league until next year. This led the Players’ Association to boycott the meeting.

In protest, the Association demanded that the league begin as approved by ANFA’s General Assembly. They repeated their warning that failure to confirm the league would lead to further protests.

The task force submitted its report to Minister Gupta on Sunday, without input from the Players’ Association.

On Monday, a delegation from the Association, led by President Lama, visited the ANFA Complex for talks. They requested the meeting be broadcast live for transparency, but ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai declined, prompting another boycott.

During the meeting, the Association submitted a seven-point memorandum to ANFA President Pankaj Nembang through General Secretary Rai.