Kunwar urges ANFA to follow statute
Kathmandu, May 1
All Nepal Football Association's Senior Vice-president Mani Kunwar asked the ANFA to follow the statute to hold the elective general assembly.
The election committee has scheduled the congress and elections for May 5 after the ANFA asked it to set the date following the clearance from Patan High Court. But Kunwar, who is also the candidate for the post of president, said the election committee's decision was against the statute of ANFA. “Nowhere in the world the election committee announces the dates of the congress and elections. It is sad that the ANFA did not follow the statute. I am the senior vice-president of the ANFA and one of the two candidates for the post of president, but I came to know about the election dates through media,” said Kunwar at a press meet today.
The AGM was scheduled for March 28 but the election committee postponed that after Patan High Court issued an interim order reacting to the writ petition filed by Bhaktapur and Makawanpur FAs. The latest move from the election committee came after the court vacated the order and elections were held in the two FAs.
However, Kunwar said the announcement of the date was conspiracy of his rival panel led by Karma Tshiring Sherpa. “The ANFA executive committee meeting should decide the date and election committee is there only to conduct the process smoothly,” said Kunwar. “As per the statute, the members of the AGM should be sent the notice 60 days before the congress. But the ANFA has issued an eight-day notice which is against the statute,” he claimed.
“If the ANFA holds the congress and elections on May 5, it will leave room for all to knock the court doors and that will push Nepali football into darkness. Anyone can challenge the decision as it will be against the statute of the ANFA,” he said. “We are not afraid of going into the elections as we are confident of winning. But we don't want the elections against the statute of the ANFA as it will not be a smooth landing. The process is very simple. The executive committee should decide the dates and venue for congress and notify all members 60 days prior to the elective general assembly.”
Kunwar also accused the Sherpa-led panel of taking the election committee officials under control and using force to make them issue the notice. “We had to call security force to make the election committee officials free from a group of people who had locked them inside a room,” said Kunwar. “The election committee has written to the ANFA to provide them with security,” he added.
Asked about the further steps if the process goes on, Kunwar said he would sit with his group members and decide about that. “We are pretty sure that the ANFA will not go against its own statute. And if it does, we will decide our further steps,” he added.
