The Nepal Premier League (NPL) has been established as a big festival in the background of weak government efforts, budget management, physical infrastructure construction, incentives, and internal competition for the development of Nepali sports.

NPL is sure to give a qualitative leap in the further development of cricket, which is also increasing in popularity and success rate in international competitions in Nepal. However, Youth and Sports Minister Tejulal Chaudhary, who has the main responsibility of playing a leading role in the development of sports, is currently active in stopping the NPL.

The efforts being made by him to stop the second edition of NPL under the guise of the working group of the National Sports Council (Rakhep) are questionable. His negative activism cannot be accepted. Either he should correct himself, or Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli should intervene on him.

The first edition of NPL started on December 15 and ended on December 6. Janakpur Bolts won the title in the competition between 8 franchise teams. A total of 128 players, including 80 Swedish and 48 foreign players, participated in the 32 matches that lasted throughout the tournament. World famous players like Shikhar Dhawan, Martin Guptill, Jimmy Neesham, Scott Kuglen also took to the field.

Players like Brian Lara came as special guests. 135,000 spectators reached the field throughout the game. More than 10 million people watched the tournament on TV and YouTube. There was an estimated financial turnover of about one billion. At that time, it was analyzed that a new history had begun in the world of Nepali sports. 

A question has also been raised that there is irregularity on the part of the organizer Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) in the enthusiastically completed tournament. After receiving a complaint in the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission regarding the transparency of the can, he sent a letter with a complaint to the Ministry of Youth and Sports asking them to 'take necessary action'. The Ministry sent it to Rakhep for investigation.

Any irregularity is punishable. If irregularities are confirmed, action should be taken against anyone involved. In the same way, there cannot be two opinions on whether the NPL should be cleared from all accounts. Only the cleanup will add public confidence to the NPL. Affiliation is added. By connecting it, whatever positive projections are made, they materialize. Therefore, the natural undertaking to investigate the alleged irregularities in the first tournament should not hinder the continuation of the next edition of the NPL. Such an effort cannot be forgiven.

Sports Minister Choudhary made Ranjana Pradhan, the principal of his own private school Nightingale, who is not related to sports, as a member of the committee. At present, he has also been made the coordinator of the task force investigating NPL. The task force has written a letter to CAN saying that 'no action should be taken regarding NPLs until the investigation is completed'. Even if the

task force can give the conclusion of its study to Rakhep, it is questionable to write a letter to stop the competition itself. Since Rakhep published a statement saying that the task force was instructed to work within its mandate and not to use the council's letterhead, it seems that the activities of the task force were driven by the Minister's strategy rather than the institutional interest of Rakhep. Similarly, since they have been forming and dissolving different committees on the same subject, there is a growing suspicion that the minister is looking for 'something more'.

Minister Choudhary has already tarnished the image of Nepali sports by writing a letter to the Olympic Council of Asia about the need to go through the Nepal Olympic Committee in the process of registration of games in the Asian Games. At a time when Karate's Erica Gurung is showing great potential for a medal, the immaturity of the sports minister has created an atmosphere of fear that Nepal will be deprived of participation somewhere. He is the one who has become active in stopping the NPL.

Minister Choudhary is now questioning the competition which was started based on the decisions taken by Rakhep in the past and is saying - 'No letter has come to organize NPL this time. Can may have signed a contract with the franchise for 10 years, but we have to get approval every year. The minister's focus is on the application for the competition and stopping the competition, rather than the details of the expenses and the investigation of the authority. Whether he understands the importance of NPL or not, the activities and logic of Minister Chaudhary are critical.

There are many parties benefiting from NPL. This has boosted the confidence of CAN to organize a grand and organized competition. Affected by this, the possibility of having a competition related to other sports has increased. This tournament has contributed to giving recognition and opportunity to new players from the busyness and financial earning of the established players of cricket. As a result, more talented players will get an opportunity in the national team and the chances of Nepalese players getting an opportunity in the franchise tournament abroad has also increased.

From business houses buying players to selling water in the stadium premises, this competition has played a major role in keeping the sluggish economy running. The importance of the tournament, which has a financial turnover of around one billion, extends beyond the game itself. In the biggest tournament of the franchise teams in the country, the participation and activity of the spectators is also attractive.

It has also played a role in increasing the loyalty of the audience towards their respective provinces. Organizers, business houses, players and spectators, who gained a lot of experience and entertainment from the first edition of the tournament, are eagerly waiting for the second tournament. But the minister's activity has been like a 'stone in the tooth'.

NPL must continue. Its existing or potential weaknesses should be improved. Willful misconduct should be made punishable. But such a big competition cannot run if it creates doubt about the continuation of the competition and makes it unnecessarily controversial.

In franchises established by large investments, distrust of the competition may increase and attractiveness may decrease. Expense management and relationships with sponsors may be disrupted. When multinational companies have to be brought in, the fear of losing domestic sponsors also increases. It mainly creates obstacles in the development of cricket. Therefore, the questionable activities of Minister Chaudhary should be controlled. NPL should be ensured.