In future, what should be done in cases of match-fixing should be specified in Nepal too. As for the present case, everybody will have to wait for the verdict of the Special Court The alleged match-fixing by Nepali national football players in international tournaments has shocked the entire nation. The Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range nabbed five players including the skipper of the national team on October 14 under such charges. So far five arrests have been made, and it is possible that more football players are involved in the scandals. The arrests were made after a tip-off from the Asian Football Confederation. The accused players have been provisionally suspended for 30 days by the AFC. The Special Court has registered a case of subversion against the offending players. Life imprisonment has been demanded as per sub-section of Article 3 of Crime Against State Act 2046 against the players who are now in custody. Interestingly, there is no provision in the law of Nepal for dealing with match-fixing. Such a provision exists in the United Kingdom and some other countries and the offenders have been sentenced under such specific laws. This is the first case of match-fixing found and brought to court in Nepal. The players face charges for attempting to cause disorder with the intent of jeopardizing the sovereignty, integrity and national unity of Nepal and the prosecutors have sought life imprisonment for them. These are very serious charges. Now that the case has been registered in the Special Court, it is the court’s special prerogative whether the accused are guilty, and if they are found guilty, what punishment is fit for them. No more, therefore, needs to be said about that now. No doubt, the accused have carried out an offence if the charges are proved in the court of law. The skipper of the Nepali side insists that they are innocent. According to police, odd betting patterns were detected in a number of matches in which Nepal played in international tournaments. The intelligence gathering is still on and it is possible that more arrests will be made. What is glaring is that the law of Nepal does not have any provision for sentencing match-fixing offenders. On the part of the police, they have brought the accused under too serious charges for the kind of offence they have done, even if proved. The gullible young Nepali players might have been enticed to be involved in this improper activity and they would never have imagined that even if detected their alleged activities would attract such serious charges, nor would even a lawyer. They have been suspended by ANFA from all activities related to football until the final verdict is made by the court. The players are now in judicial custody and the Special Court has extended it for 24 days more. In other countries where match-fixing has been detected, the offenders have faced disciplinary action by the concerned sport bodies, which include a ban on play for a certain period or for the entire life. In other countries too such conduct falls under improper conduct, liable to disciplinary action, not under the kind of charges levelled against them in our case. In future, what should be done in cases of match-fixing should be specified in Nepal too. As for the present case, everybody will have to wait for the verdict of the Special Court. Poor performance The District Education Office in Lamjung has decided to take necessary action against those teachers who fail to improve their performance in their respective schools. A meeting of the District Education Committee took this decision to punish the unruly teachers saying that their performance had declined despite the fact that they are well-trained and receive salary on time. According to the decision the concerned teachers will be given warning for three times by the school inspectors or resource persons. If they are found to have not improved their performance they will be punished as per the decision of the schools management committee. Most of the teachers in the public schools have been found to have engaged in politics ignoring their duties. Most of the parents who can afford to pay expensive fees send their wards to private schools thanks to poor educational quality at public or community schools. In order to make the teachers responsible and accountable to the schools and children the concerned school management committee must always keep vigil on the teachers and, at the same time, inspectors or resource persons as well.