Nepali football is currently in a serious state due to the conflict between the National Sports Council (NSC) and the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the suspension of the men's national league and the women's Martyrs' Memorial League, and issues such as work permits for foreign players. In addition, the fact that players who came on tourist visas are not allowed to play, the immigration letter requiring work permits, the filing of cases against this, and the inability to regularly hold the Martyrs' Memorial League 'A' Division league are additional problems. If the current problems continue without being resolved, the risk of serious accidents in Nepal's most popular sport has increased.

There is probably no sector that is free from problems in the Nepali football sector. Due to all these problems, there is a compelling situation where players in Nepal do not have a league and migrate abroad, and even players in Nepal are unemployed, while international matches that Nepal is supposed to play are also in doubt. This has pushed Nepali football towards a crisis.

Football experts point out that there is a possibility that the NSC will intervene in the ANFA in the next few days and form a new ad hoc committee in this regard. On the other hand, the International Football Federation FIFA has indicated the possibility of imposing a ban on Nepal and that it will also form a 'Normalization Committee' sooner or later.

Football experts point out that the NSC may intervene in ANFA in the next few days and form a new ad hoc committee in this regard. On the other hand, the International Football Federation FIFA has indicated the possibility of imposing a ban on Nepal and that it will also form a 'Normalization Committee' sooner or later. Meanwhile, the founding party of ANFA is making every effort to hold the elections on the date it announced, and is also trying to stop some. The NSC has already ordered ANFA to stop all election processes. It has also asked it to stop all election processes immediately. In this regard, the head of the Council's Organization Coordination Branch, Chandra Kumar Rai, wrote a letter on Thursday. If an attempt is made to hold elections, there is a risk of government interference. In such a situation, it seems clear that Nepali football will face a serious accident.

ANFA, ignoring the instructions of the National Football Council, has already sent a letter to its members with an agenda for a general meeting to be held in Jhapa from 9 am on Chaitra 13. One of the 9 points in it includes the election of a new committee for the next four years. ANFA has also completed all the previous procedures required for the election. Despite this, there is a dilemma within ANFA. All these incidents have put the international friendly match that the Nepali men's national team was supposed to play against Hong Kong in doubt.

ANFA sources say that ANFA is yet to get approval from the council for the match against Hong Kong. Similarly, the match against Laos in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers is also in trouble. Nepal's FIFA ranking is currently 182nd and it may fall further. The men's SAFF Championship is also being held in 2027 and its preparations may also be disrupted. Nepal could not even reach the semi-finals in the last edition of the championship. Nepal is last among the four teams in Group 'F' in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Not only that, the entire domestic football will come to a standstill. According to ANFA sources, it has written to FIFA regarding the new developments and asked, what should be done now? Should the election process be maintained or postponed? The answer will probably come by Monday. But it is also said that there is a possibility of government intervention before that. FIFA itself has already said that the 'early election' decision made by ANFA was right. FIFA feels that ANFA's decision is right according to its statute. In the event of the election not being held and government interference in ANFA, the first thing FIFA will do is to ban Nepal. FIFA's policy is to not accept third-party interference under any circumstances. FIFA rejects government interference unconditionally.

The term of the ANFA Executive Committee led by Pankaj Bikram Nembang is until Asar 4. But ANFA has decided to hold 'early elections' before that. ANFA initially tried to hold elections in Jhapa on Magh 13. But the program has been postponed for the third time and is now scheduled for March 13. The biggest objection to this election is that it will not be held at the level of the level but directly at the center. This is also the biggest objection of the council. According to ANFA's current decision, most of the old voters will participate in the election. ANFA's statute does not allow them to hold more than two terms in the same position. 

ANFA's working committee members, former office bearers and players are among those who are pressuring to hold the level-based election first, saying that it would be illegal since club, district and provincial representatives who have served more than two terms will vote during the 'early election'. This is also the biggest objection of the council. The one who is most opposed to this election process is former ANFA president Karma Tshering Sherpa. He says, 'The only solution for the problem for now is to withdraw the election program. Otherwise, Nepali football will go to hell. The problem currently seen in Nepal is also in other South Asian countries, and finally, an ad hoc committee has held free elections there.'

The accusation of the ANFA establishment is that whatever events are happening now, the opposition wants Nepal to be banned by FIFA. But whatever the opposition accuses, it is ANFA itself that has created such a situation. If ANFA had not decided on 'early elections', the situation that has arisen now would not have been conceivable. Therefore, if Nepal is banned by FIFA, ANFA itself will be responsible for it.

This is not a new controversy or issue for South Asia. The situation similar to that in Nepal has also occurred in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh. FIFA had also banned some. Those familiar with South Asian football allege that there is less football in this region, but more politics in football to fulfill personal interests.

Both leagues suspended

Nepali football has now reached a very critical juncture, with the suspension of the men's national league and the women's Martyrs' Memorial League. ANFA has announced that both leagues have been postponed indefinitely, citing technical reasons. Foreign players have been playing in domestic football for a long time. This is not a new concept in professional football. But a key question related to this is the labor permit required for foreign players to play.

The Immigration Department wrote a letter to ANFA, stating that anyone who comes on a tourist visa is not allowed to work professionally in Nepal. If anyone does, it will be legally punishable. Not only in football, there are many examples of foreign players playing in major competitions in other sports without obtaining labor permits. In football too, sometimes foreign players have played with labor permits, and sometimes this rule has been strictly enforced. In this national league, most clubs, except for departmental teams, have foreign players.

Foreign players are also the most successful in the league. These players have made the league exciting and high-quality. Even before the start of this national league, the process for labor permits had begun, but there was a delay from the government. Clubs complain that despite verbal agreement from the government to proceed with the remaining process by playing foreign players, there have been complaints that foreign players were played without labor permits. 

Following the complaint, the Immigration Department wrote a letter to ANFA. ANFA was forced to postpone the league. In this regard, Sankata President and ANFA Chief Executive Officer Indraman Tuladhar says, "No club is in favor of not obtaining labor permits. We are ready to complete all the procedures with the government and pay taxes. But the process of registering foreign players and obtaining labor permits is not only very complicated, but the process itself is long. Now, this entire process of obtaining labor permits is not something that a football club can do."

Some club officials have even alleged that the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the council themselves are slow in the process of registering foreign players and obtaining labor permits and do not make decisions on time. In such a situation, it seems that all the blame lies with the club, while the club has no such destiny. Tuladhar is confident that this problem will be resolved now, the process of registering foreign players and obtaining work permits will be completed and the national league will start again. Manish Shrestha of Shree Bhagwati says that if foreign players are not allowed to play, the club is in danger of losing millions of rupees.

The context of the women's league is a bit different. Even after the first four games, the council had not approved it. The council's argument was that if ANFA does not respect the laws of the country, why should it be approved for the competition alone? Of the nine clubs participating in the women's league, only Sankata has brought in foreign players for now, while other teams are also in favor of bringing in foreign players. But even after completing all the procedures for organizing the competition and seeking approval from the council a week in advance, it was not granted.

Another major problem during the time the national league was running was the lack of spectators. For the last few years, the number of football spectators at Dasharath Stadium has been continuously decreasing and is now almost zero. The reasons for this are the lack of regular competitions, the lack of star players and the lack of basic facilities for spectators at Dasharath Stadium.

Three Star's status as 'A' Division

In all these developments, a court decision in favor of Three Star Club has great significance. It was decided to relegate Three Star from the last edition of the Martyrs' Memorial League 'A' Division. At the end of that league, Three Star escaped relegation and was to be relegated to the APF 'B' Division in its place. But the APF filed a complaint alleging that Three Star played players without work permits in the match against Jawalakhel Youth Club. During the investigation, it was confirmed that the foreign players fielded by Three Star did not have work permits.

Based on the same allegations against Three Star, the ANFA Disciplinary and Appeal Committee had decided to relegate them to the 'B' Division. Three Star had gone to court against this. The Patan High Court, in a single bench of Tejendra Prasad Sharma, not only overturned the relegation decision passed against Three Star on Friday, but also gave a clear decision to maintain them in the 'A' Division. In this situation, it seems that the controversy over whether or not a labor permit is required for foreign players to play professional sports in Nepal may increase. If labor permits are mandatory for foreign players to play professional sports in Nepal, not only football but also major competitions in other sports that were previously held without such permits will be illegal and illegitimate.

According to Ramchandra Tiwari, Director General of the Immigration Department, the letter had to be cut off because a complaint was received from the Immigration Department that foreign players were being played in the league without labor permits and without the department's approval. 'We asked ANFA about this and also drew its attention orally, but it was ignored. We also drew its attention to the legal provisions of immigration. We had written a letter to ANFA,' Tiwari said. 'After that, a representative from ANFA came and made a commitment to complete the legal process as soon as possible and run the league. But we have not been told anything about the situation after that.'

Tiwari said that in the past, foreign players included in such leagues have been allowed to play games and have also violated the law and regulations, but this time, the department was forced to conduct the necessary investigation after receiving a complaint. Tiwari said that there is no problem in completing the immigration process for one hour if a labor permit is obtained.

ANFA has not been able to give a concrete decision on whether Three Star or APF will play in the upcoming 'A' Division. After receiving the recognition of the 'A' Division, Three Star has already insisted that it should have its say in the upcoming elections. This issue is sure to put a problem not only in the ANFA elections that can always be held, but also in major domestic Nepali football competitions.

'A' Division League that has not been held

The most objection to the current establishment of ANFA is that it cannot hold the Martyrs' Memorial 'A' Division League regularly. It has been more than a thousand days since the last ‘A’ Division League. The last match of the ‘A’ Division was played on 27 Jestha 2080. The Nembang-led ANFA has completed only one cycle of the Nepali domestic league in its entire tenure, while from the ‘C’ Division selection, ‘C’, ‘B’ and ‘A’ Divisions should have had four editions each.

The players are the most angry about the lack of a league, and the Nepal Football Players Association is continuously opposing it. The association alleges that not only have players fled abroad due to the lack of a league, but also players in Nepal have become unemployed. Recently, key members of the national team have fled abroad, including former captains Sujal Shrestha and Pujan Uparkoti. The only major demand of the Players Association is the operation of a regular league every year. Amidst much opposition and many complications, the current national league was organized keeping the players in mind, in which there is no provision for relegation.

Earlier, ANFA had decided to hold the Martyrs' Memorial League on a 'home and away' basis with the 'A' Division clubs. Meanwhile, the Players' Association had locked the ANFA Complex in Satdobato on more than one occasion. After the last time the association locked it, ANFA had made an agreement with the players, according to which at least one match would be held by mid-Chait and the Martyrs' Memorial League 'A' Division would be organized.

ANFA and the Players' Association had also organized a press conference to announce it. But during this agreement, the biggest stakeholder club in the league was ignored. Both ANFA and the Players' Association did not even consider it necessary to ask the club to organize the Martyrs' Memorial League 'A' Division. In this case, the club was determined to protest and this is what happened. It was only a short time after the press conference of ANFA and the players ended, the club turned to the media and said, 'This league cannot happen.'

During that, Machhindra Club President Anil Shrestha had said, 'We also want there to be an 'A' Division. But for that, all the processes must be completed. Now, when the ‘A’ division is announced, it will only embarrass the club.’ According to Shrestha, clubs that have spent millions of rupees for the league are presented as villains when there is no competition. But others ignore the fact that a big competition like the league requires sufficient time, investment and preparation.