In the advertisement, junior Thapa asks about Nepal’s participation in the World Cup. “We could not,” senior Thapa replies. “Now, it’s your turn.”[break]
Now, junior Thapa is in his 20s but not in the football scene. Senior Thapa is enjoying his 16-year-long presidential tenure at All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). However, Nepali football has remained where it was. It is not developing, except in prize money of the domestic league, and ANFA has turned more into a battlefield of power than a professional body.
HISTORY
Nepal started playing World Cup qualifiers in 1985. Nepal held Malaysia in a goalless draw and lost the other three matches. Nepal had a disastrous performance in the 1990 qualifiers as they lost all the six matches.
Nepal scored their first World Cup qualifying goal against Macau in the 1998 qualifiers. As Hari Khadka scored against Macau, Nepal produced a 1-1 draw but lost the other five.
Nepal defeated Macau twice in the 2002 qualifiers but lost four matches. They didn’t participate in the qualifying round for the World Cup 2006. With a similar fate, Nepal lost their qualifying campaign for South Africa as they were beaten by Oman at the score of 2-0 in both legs.
Nepal’s latest success on the international level was in 1993 when Nepal won the football gold in the Sixth South Asian Games (SAG).
Ganesh Thapa took charge of ANFA in 1995 with lots of promises. His tenure, however, didn’t bear good results and is largely marked by internal rifts.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
German coach Holger Oberman used to pick young players from the inter-district U-16 tournaments during his tenure as Nepal’s coach in the early 1990s. There have been no inter-district youth tournaments after Oberman’s departure.
However, ANFA organizes inter-school football every year to identify new talent. More than 400 schools participate in the tournament. However, domestic leagues lack new players. Clubs don’t bother to watch school events to pick up the players. This shows the worth of the tournament; and how ANFA is running it.
The most promising development during Thapa’s tenure is the beginning of the ambitious Youth Development Project and establishment of ANFA Academy in Kathmandu, Dharan and Butwal. Right now, there are 107 young footballers in these academies with five batches already graduated.
However, apart from a few players, there are hardly any leading players, especially forwards, produced by the academies.
A club official requesting anonymity said that the academy players lack killer instinct. “Our academies are teaching everyone the same style of play; they aren’t nourishing individual talents. Thus, the academy products lack individual strength,” he said.
Domestic leagues are the backbone for development of the game and better results from the national side. However, disputes within ANFA had caused halts in the top-flight league repeatedly – the last being three years of no football until last year.
The number of teams in the top-flight league has changed every few years. The end of the conflict, after two second-division leagues held by different organizers, is causing ANFA a headache as eight clubs were promoted.
This year, 12 teams are participating in the ongoing A Division League and ANFA is yet to decide on the number of clubs for next year’s league.
There are serious match fixing allegations by the clubs, but ANFA has not been serious about it. Team managers are openly alleging clubs of match fixing during official
post-match press conferences, but ANFA is neither investigating allegations nor taking action against managers.
Probably, Nepal is the only country in the world where national league will continue during the World Cup. ANFA is trying to conclude the league as soon as possible.
MONEY MATTERS
ANFA’s annual expense in its all programs is around Rs 50,000,000.
“We have 65 coaches in 40 districts; we run academies; we have other development programs, tournaments and international participation to cover,” explains ANFA vice-president Lalit Krishna Shrestha.
“We get peanuts from the government and we’re managing all from internal recourses, sponsors, aid from FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC),” Shrestha added.
However, another ANFA official claims that the investment is made whimsically.
“We’ve been just distributing money to coaches – some of whom are just voters – and we aren’t giving them duties,” he said.
“All of us are turning greedy for our posts at the ANFA. Even I’m asking for anonymity to speak this to the media. We’re still in an autocracy,” he added.
So far, ANFA has remained an organization without long-term vision. It has eight vice presidents – thanks to the dispute for three years, but nobody knows their responsibilities.
After a few brawls over power, Thapa became stronger and secured his post unopposed, by distributing posts to both his supporters and rivals.
As per the national team’s performances, Nepal changed four coaches in the last two years. There had been no coaches who stayed for two consecutive tournaments. Coaches, in muted tone, have always complained of interference in team selection and strategy building.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
“If we want better results, we have to develop football from the grassroots level,” said former national coach Shyam Thapa.
Thapa insisted on honest efforts from authorities concerned to develop football, and hoped for World Cup qualification in 50 years.
“There should be no political interference in football, but the Association also should stop
taking alibis of political interference,” added Thapa.
Then, can we expect to see Nepal in the World Cup?
“Nepal playing in the World Cup is as far away as science is from inventing technology that makes humans immortal,” said coach Thapa. “We’ll never play World Cup until we change strategies.”
On the other hand, ANFA officials are into mutual blame game. “Whenever we start developing football, we’re forced into a dispute,” said ANFA treasurer Birat Jung Shahi.
“To hope for World Cup, we need good infrastructure, government priority and investment as well as private investment and market,” said vice president Shrestha.
“Honesty is needed on both sides to develop football. We can work out
a 50-year plan,” said Shyam Thapa.
IS IT ANOTHER HELMSMAN’S TURN?
one person can’t be blamed for all the failures. However, ANFA President Ganesh Thapa should take major responsibility for failing to uplift Nepal’s football standards during his long tenure.
If he could not fulfill the promises he made when he took over as ANFA President more than a decade ago, isn’t it high time then for him, as he said in the above-mentioned television commercial, to tell his team members: “Now, it’s your turn!”?
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