Talks with ANFA and NSKEP: FIFA warns of ban if free elections are not held
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Representatives of the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held virtual talks between the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the National Sports Council (NSC) on Monday to resolve the Nepali football dispute. In the process, FIFA and AFC have been asked to withdraw the suspension of NSC and return to the previous election program.
Six people from FIFA and AFC participated in the meeting held on Monday evening. They included MA Governance at FIFA Head Raf Turner, AFC Deputy General Secretary Bhahid Kardani, FIFA's Prince Rufus, AFC's Sanjeev Balasingham and Yasuko Takano, and South Asian Unit Head Niren Mukherjee. NSC member secretaries Ramcharitra Mehta and Sanu KC participated.
General Secretary Kiran Rai, CEO Indraman Tuladhar and Media Officer Shailendra Adhikari were present on behalf of ANFA. According to the representatives who participated in the meeting, FIFA had asked to allow ANFA elections to be held freely without interference. If that situation did not persist, FIFA had also warned Nepal of sanctions. FIFA had argued that suspending ANFA was a third-party intervention.
During the talks, the NSC claimed that the actions taken against ANFA were in accordance with its rules, while FIFA had asked it to address them in accordance with international football rules. During similar talks, the NSC had emphasized that ANFA elections should be held at the level. FIFA had stated that the ANFA general meeting had not made any such decision regarding level-based elections for the elections.
FIFA had requested a video of the ANFA general meeting and said that there was no mention of level-level elections in it. FIFA has also asked for an English version of the NAFPA statute to be sent. NAFPA has also reportedly proposed further physical talks so that ANFA does not engage in FIFA sanctions.
