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.
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.
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
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