According to Nepal Olympic Committee recognized by the International Olympic Committee, five chess players -- Manish Hamal, Keshav Shrestha, Prachanda Man Malakar, Monalisa Khambu and Bina Jaiswal -- are participating in the indoor event. Swimmer Shreya Dhital and muay thai player Nawaraj Bhandari are also participating in the mega tournament.[break]
NOC member Ramji Bahadur Shrestha has been appointed chef-de-mission of the Nepali team while Nepal Chess Association President Rajesh Hari Joshi, FIDE Arbiter Balaram Pun, chess official Raju Tamrakar and muay thai official Rajesh Shrestha are also members of the Nepali team.
The Nepali team will leave Kathmandu on Wednesday.
Lama criticizes NOC
National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama bade farewell to the Nepali team amid a function on Tuesday. Speaking at the function, he criticized the NOC with international recognition for not informing the state sports authority about the Nepali team´s participation in the international event.
"International participation of every Nepali athlete makes NSC proud but ignoring the state sports authority and not informing NSC officially about the participation is only an attempt to create anarchy," said Lama. "If associations avoid NSC and seek help unofficially, we can´t support them," he added.
He also slammed NOC for picking the games and players for international participation without holding consultation with concerned authorities. "NSC is in no mood to bar athletes from international participation under any pretext," said Lama, referring to the ongoing controversy regarding the legitimacy of NOC.
Two different NOCs -- one led by Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan and another led by Rukma SJB Rana -- have been claiming legitimacy. While the Supreme Court´s verdict of November 4, 2010 recognized the Rana-led committee, IOC has recognized the committee led by Pradhan. The dispute has also dragged international participation of Nepali athletes into controversies.
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