No doubt, football is the most popular sports in Nepal. The jam-packed
stands of the Dasharath Stadium during international and major domestic
tournaments are sufficient to shed light on this fact.
Besides its popularity, football is the game which has the strongest
financial status out of more than 100 sports played in the country. It
is also the only game which has given employment to more than 500
individuals, including 400 players, referee and coaches, while other
individuals like physiotherapists and curators are also getting benefits
from the game directly or indirectly.
The salary of a player of the A Division ranges from Rs 20,000 to Rs
70,000 per month. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is the only
sports association in Nepal which enjoys television revenue among
others. But a startling fact is that Nepali football is a perennial
underachiever despite massive investment compared to other sports in the
country.
In total, 125 sports bodies are registered with the National Sports
Council (NSC), the apex sports body of the nation. But ANFA is the only
association that enjoys special privileges when it comes to sponsorship
deals owing to the popularity of the beautiful game. Unlike ANFA,
getting sponsors for other sports associations is always an uphill
battle.
It is not only ANFA but also most of the A Division football clubs have
sponsors who provide ´handsome´ amount. The total amount from sponsors
and co-sponsors to A Division clubs is Rs 16.67 million, according to
figures of recent statistics.
Similarly, ANFA gets Rs 20 million from its two major sponsors -- Gorkha
Brewery and Ncell. Besides this, it also has other small sponsors as
well.
Among 16 A Division clubs, 10 have either sponsor or co-sponsor or both.
The combined income of ANFA and the clubs from sponsorship deals
amounts to Rs 36.67 million.
Besides this, the annual budget of ANFA is Rs 100 million. And if the
claims of A Division clubs are to be believed, they invest more than Rs 5
million annually. Some of them even claim to have invested more than 10
million annually. Thus, summing up the entire amount, one can roughly
sketch the figure of around Rs 180 million investment in the game
annually.
But the question that arises is what Nepali football is giving in return
for the huge investment. The performance and the results achieved in
the international level are considered the measuring rod of the standard
of the game. The last time Nepal won international title was nearly two
decades ago in the South Asian level. Nepal had lifted the football
title in 1993 SAF Games in Dhaka. Since then, Nepal has been struggling
in the international stage.
According to Bhim Thapa, former technical director of ANFA, the
international results are far below expectations as compared to the
investment in the sector. "I don´t think the result we have achieved in
the international level matches the investment we have made."
Thapa, however, opined that the investment was pretty low compared to
South Asian neighbor India and the Maldives. "In comparison with India
and Maldives, we have low investment. We should also take a comparative
view of the club level football of these countries for bettering our
football. Club football is the backbone of team´s performance at the
national and international level."
Thapa was critical on the life style of the current national players.
"The national players these days get much more facilities than during
our time," said Thapa, who looked at the national team as coach time and
again.
"The national players´ off-the-field style like night life and others
are contributing to degradation of their performance. The new generation
is talented but not hard working and the level of dedication is
inadequate."
Besides this, Thapa also stressed on the need of proper planning at the
administrative level for the improvement of the game. " Both ANFA and
clubs are lagging behind as administrators. It is not just more
facilities to the players that ensure good performance and results but
sound planning is equally essential."
Thapa was also dissatisfied with the quality of new players and coaches.
"Quantity wise the production of players and coaches is satisfactory
but the quality is not satisfactory."
"As the main authority, ANFA has the greatest responsibility in planning
and implementation but none including ANFA and club are giving cent
percent from their side," shared Thapa, adding, "Dedication is essential
from all sectors including ANFA, clubs, players and coaches." Thapa
also opined that it was the right time to evaluate the ANFA leadership.
Former ANFA President Purusottam Shrestha, who led the Nepali football
when it last won international title, opined that the current investment
in football was like pouring water in sand. Shrestha, under whose
leadership the national team lifted SAF title back in 1993, opined that
ANFA was involved in showing off rather than coming up with genuine
effort for the development of the game.
He criticized the ANFA leadership and its management. "The leadership
and the management of ANFA should be totally reshuffled. The leadership
should itself step down paving way for new enthusiasts who has plans and
visions," said Shrestha, tagging the current leadership of ANFA as a
failure. Shrestha hinted that ANFA President Ganesh Thapa, who has been
the supreme of the football governing body since last 18 years, should
step down himself.
"Leadership must know how to handle the players and tackle them. Hiring
foreign players will diminish the quality of domestic players and will
have negative impact on the production of players," said Shrestha.
Padam Krishna Shrestha, former technical director of ANFA, held a
different view on the investment and Nepal´s performance at the
international stage. "The investment is very low in football and we must
make more investment in order to achieve good results at the
international level," Shrestha said, adding that the game was totally
ignored by the government.
Former national team skipper Hari Khadka termed Nepal´s result at the
international level as misfortunate. "Despite playing good football we
are unable to achieve results at the international area."
Khadka stressed on the need of making football friendly policy at the
government level. He was also full of praise for ANFA leadership and its
program. Khadka opined that production of players was insufficient as
per the demand. "Same players gets place in the national squad for seven
or eight years due to lack of quality players. Grassroots football is
centralized in the capital, new talents must be searched from across the
nation."
Club Sponsorship Co-sponsorship
HSC 2 million 800,000
Jawalakhel 1.8 million ---
Police 1.6 million ---
Friends 1.5 million --
MMC 1.5 million --
Sankata 1.5 million ----
Madhyapur 1.36 million 800,000
Bansbari 1.3 million 500,000
RCT 800,000 ---
Three Star 1.3 million
NRT -- ---
Army -- --
Machhindra -- ---
Bauddha --- ---
Saraswati -- ---
APF -- --
Total: 13.36 3.4 million = 16.67
ANFA´s sponsor Sponsor Amount
Gorkha Brewery 10 million
Ncell 10 million
His
football career was eclipsed after he was handed a 10-year ban from all
football related activities on November 16 earlier this year for misusing his
power and for personal and family gain. 
