Kathmandu, September 16

The All Nepal Football Association is all set to kick start the Martyrs Memorial ‘A’ Division League on September 29 with the champions earning a pay cheque of five million rupees.

The league, which is being held after four years, will not have the provision of relegation as the ANFA failed to forge consensus among the participating 14 clubs. Instead, ANFA decided to penalize the bottom two teams with two and one points and deduct preparation money by Rs 300,000 and Rs 200,000 respectively. The ANFA has decided to provide the clubs with two million rupees as preparation money.

“We are having a league without relegation as we wanted to take football to the pitch anyhow, and we introduced the provision of penalties to check the possible match-fixing among the participating clubs,” said League Committee Chairman Bigyan Raj Sharma. “We will not leave any stone unturned to conduct free and fair league,” he added.

ANFA had earlier said that the special general assembly endorsed the proposal of deducting the points and prize money of bottom three teams but the football governing body today informed it was for only the last two clubs. ANFA Spokesperson Kiran Rai, who had briefed the media about the decision of the assembly held in Chitwan last month, said the issue was discussed in the floor but the final decision was not taken.

The runners-up will walk away with Rs 3.5 million, while the third-placed team will get Rs 2.5 million. Likewise, teams finishing from fourth to sixth will receive Rs 1.5 million, Rs 700,000 and Rs 500,000 respectively, informed ANFA General Secretary Indra Man Tuladhar in a release.

Asked about the reason behind reducing the prize money, ANFA President Karma Tsering Sherpa said the total amount was increased and divided to the top six clubs proportionately. “Earlier there used to be a huge gap between the winners and runners-up and we changed that system. We have actually increased the total cash purse,” he said. The league champions received Rs 7.5 million when it was last held four years ago.

Apart from prizes and preparation money, the clubs will also get Rs 50,000 for each win and Rs 15,000 for a draw, while the man-of-the-match in every game will earn Rs 10,000.

League Director Sanjeev Mishra informed a total of 91 matches will be played at two venues — ANFA Complex and Nepal APF Club grounds in Halchowk. “No club will be seeded this time around and we will be making an open draw on September 19. We are working on a schedule in which a club need not play more than three matches in a week,” he added.