Except the departmental teams -- Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force -- other footballers, whose contracts ended last Friday, are at the receiving end as ANFA hasn´t been able to take any decision on the new registration. [break]
To make matters worse, ANFA has yet to take a decision on whether it would conduct the A, B and C Division Leagues a month after the season´s end.
Altogether 320 players, including two dozen foreign players, had participated in the league last season. Among the local players, all save 80 players of the departmental teams, have been rendered jobless.
Even in such a dismal situation, Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) and Himalayan Sherpa Club are in the race of signing new players. However, Nabil Three Star, New Road Team (NRT), RCT, Samsung Jawalakhel Youth Club (JYC), NIBL Friends Club and G Five Machhindra Club are silent on the issue.
The clubs are now reluctant to take in new players as the league was earlier disrupted for three years after they signed players. Moreover they won´t be entitled to compensation if the league does not kick off.
The players should not be registered unless ANFA brings forward a clear policy, argues JYC General Secretary Manmohan KC. “The league was not held even after we registered players in the past. Our investments went down the drain and we didn´t get any compensation,” KC said.
“We are faced with the same situation now. It is still unclear whether the league will take place. We cannot take risks anymore,” he added.
ANFA hasn´t been able to take a decision despite holding several unofficial meetings. Earlier, the clubs accepted ANFA´s decisions willy-nilly. But the league came to a halt in 2007-08 after some ´A´ Division clubs protested, alleging ANFA of taking arbitrary decisions.
The dispute intensified after the National Sports Council (NSC) approved registration of Nepal Football Association (NFA) having authority on par with ANFA.
Both the associations carried out separate B Division leagues of the clubs associated with them and promoted four clubs each to ´A´ Division, thereby casting a shadow on the current league. ANFA promoted Himalayan Sherpa, Swayambhu, Koilapani Polestar and Bansbari while NFA promoted United, Brigade, Saraswati and Bauddha.
The two associations reached an agreement at the end of 2008 and elections were held in mid 2009. But the country´s football entered a phase of additional chaos as bickering and lobbying took the center stage instead of policy and rules determining the course of action.
At present, there isn´t any possibility of ANFA organizing tournaments without the backing and consent of each and every club. There is a good hold of club representatives in ANFA´s leadership and majority of decisions are taken in favor of the clubs.
The 10 clubs that played the league last season along with the eight promoted teams make 18 ´A´ Division teams for this season. The promoted teams are demanding their rights to play in the ´A´ Division while others argue that including all the 18 teams will degrade the standard of football and insist only two additional teams play this year´s league.
This is the bone of contention. The eight promoted teams want the league to take place this year while others want to defer it for next year.
There isn´t much enthusiasm among the clubs to play the league this season because the winner of the recently concluded league is already chosen to represent Nepal in the AFC President´s Cup 2011.
“Discussions are being held regarding various models. National league, district league, and the discussion to split the current ´A´ Division league into ´A´ Division and Premiere League is going on,” said one of the club representatives, “But we have not been able to reach an agreement. If this situation persists, the league cannot take place this year.”
If the league is postponed this season, it is certain that the footballers will not be registered before April next year. “The players will get registered only in April if the league gets postponed. Until then they will remain jobless,” said the club representative.
ANFA doesn´t have a clear answer about the league and the players´ registration. ANFA Spokesperson and Vice-president Lalit Krishna Shrestha says talks are being held.
“We have been taking suggestions from A, B and C Division clubs. We haven´t reached any conclusion as of now,” Shrestha said. “We will take a package decision about all the leagues and players´ registration soon,” he added.
Whatever the policy of ANFA may be, MMC are set to sign 14 new players, says the club´s president Tashi Ghale. “We will have mutual dealings between the clubs and players irrespective of ANFA´s schedule,” he said. “All clubs should unite together to conduct knockout football if ANFA fails to carry out the league.”
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