• Ex-prez Narendra Shrestha nominated as honorary president; • Humagain named acting head coach for Bangladesh friendly
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 11
The second meeting of the All Nepal Football Association today removed Nabin Pande from the post of International Relations Head and nominated former president Narendra Shrestha as the honorary president.
The second executive committee meeting - which was already been postponed twice and keenly observed by the sports fraternity due to unwanted tussle among the office bearers - took some important decisions to address the overall issues.
Although the ANFA had not included Pande's nomination in its agenda despite demands from majority of the committee members, the ANFA decided to revoke its previous decision and release him from the post. Pande, who was nominated as IR Head for the second time in May, has been nominated as chief advisor to ANFA President Pankaj Bikram Nembang.
The controversial figure in Nepal football, German citizen Pande was also nominated IR Head by the previous committee but he quit the post following tussle with the then President Karma Tsering Sherpa. Pande then joined hands with the then senior vice-president Nembang - who was also at loggerheads with Sherpa - in ousting Sherpa from the ANFA.
Nembang then formed a group and with support from former presidents Ganesh Thapa and Narendra Shrestha along with others he was able to unseat Sherpa in the elections held in May. The first meeting of the ANFA made three nominations - General Secretary Kiran Rai, Treasurer Rabindra Joshi and IR Head Pande.
But the decision did not last long as the majority of officials stood against that after Nembang and his allies, including Pande, refused to nominate Gaurav Thapa - son on former president Ganesh Thapa - as CEO or deputy general secretary.
While the second meeting was postponed for the first time due to ill-health of President Nembang, the board meeting could not take place for the second time after Senior Vice-president Bir Bahadur Khadka and other officials refused to sign the minute book in protest to Nembang's refusal to adhere their demands of Thapa's nomination for the post of CEO or deputy general secretary. Khadka and 11 other officials then submitted a memorandum to ANFA President Nembang demanding the dismissal of Pande.
In between, the Nembang faction knocked the doors of Sherpa for support but the latter was unwilling to support the group which ousted him from the ANFA. The second meeting of the ANFA also formed a committee under Vice-president Birat Jung Shahi to hire the required individuals in vacant posts. Anil Malla and Manish Joshi are the member of the committee, while General Secretary Kiran Rai is member secretary.
In another important agenda, the ANFA decided to invalidate the deal with Nepal Super League saying the previous contract was faulty. The meeting formed a seven-member committee headed by President Nambang to renew the deal and also allotted the dates of October 9 to November 18 for the second edition of the NSL. The NSL has been postponed time and again after the ANFA failed to address the concerns raised by the 'A' division clubs regarding the release clause of the players.
The meeting approved the 18-member organising committee headed by Senior Vice-president Khadka for the Women's SAFF Championship slated for September 6-19 in Kathmandu, along with head coach Kumar Thapa, team manager Bindra Dewan and other officials including Local General Coordinator Vijay Ghale, Venue Manager Rabindra Chand, Security Officer Dinesh Byanjankar, Marketing and Broadcast Committee convenor Sanjeeb Shilpakar. ANFA had made all the nominations after the meeting was postponed for the second time last month.
According to the ANFA, the Women's SAFF Championship matches will be held at the Dasharath Stadium at 1:00PM and 5:30PM, as suggested by the Asian Football Confederation. Also, the ANFA set the ticket price at Rs 500 for VIP parapet and Rs 300 for normal stands.
Also, the meeting decided to organise the Martyrs Memorial C Division League selection tournament from September 17 to October 16. The ANFA formed a three-member committee of Bikash Shrestha, Rabindra Chand and Manish Joshi to auction two vehicles and deposit the amount into Players Welfare Fund.
The meeting decided to play a friendly match against Bangladesh at the Dasharath Stadium on September 27 and nominated Pradip Humagain as acting head coach for the match. National team head coach Abdullah Almutairi is on leave and the ANFA has asked him to furnish clarification following the recommendation from the probe committee to relieve him from his duty after the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
According to the ANFA, the ordinary congress will be held in Kathmandu on September 28. The congress will elect two members in the executive committee after four candidates were tied on 39 votes in the elective general assembly in May. The ANFA nominated former president Narendra Shrestha as honorary president and Kishor Rai as honorary senior vice-president, to be approved by the congress. Suresh Shah was nominated as Spokesperson of the ANFA.
The ANFA decided to organise the second round matches of the National Women's League in Biratnagar after the Women's SAFF Championship, while Lalit Memorial U-18 Football Tournament will be held from June 12-24 next year. The meeting also decided to take part in AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers in Bahrain, SAFF U-17 Championship in Sri Lanka and AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers in Vietnam. The ANFA will also organise Community Coaching Course in Dhankuta and Surkhet, and Fitness Level-I Course and FIFA MA Referee Course in Kathmandu.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
