ANFA remains mum on match fixing case

Kathmandu, May 22

The All Nepal Football Association today released the technical report book of the Qatar Airways Martyrs Memorial A Division League but the football governing body remained mum on match fixing case.

The ANFA had in February taken action against captain Dipesh Shrestha and manager Bijendra Pudasaini of Yeti Himalayan Sherpa Club’s, owned by ANFA President Karma Tsering Sherpa, while goalkeeper Kishor Giri and goalkeeping coach Min Bahdaur Basnet were warned for their involvement in match fixing against Saraswoti Youth Club, who were eventually relegated to B division despite taking full three points from the game.

National Sports Council Member Secretary Ramesh Kumar Silwal, ANFA President Sherpa, vice-presidents Upendra Man Singh and Sikshit Parajuli along with league coordinator Bigyan Raj Sharma released the 80-page report, first of its kind in the history of Nepali football, amidst a virtual press meet. But the document failed to address the match fixing issue on domestic football. And most interestingly, the officials did not answer the queries of journalists, who put their questions through online platforms, despite opening the floor for questions.

The report has included the statistics of the league along with the profiles of the 14 participating teams and their performance in top flight league of the country. Apart from a couple of articles on Nepali football, the document has included reports from match commissioner, referee, medical, security committees along with website visitors’ record.

ANFA President Sherpa lauded the efforts of the editorial team in bringing out the historical report. “As per my knowledge, the report is first of its kind in South Asia,” said Sherpa. He also urged the NSC to remove the Dasharath Stadium from the list of coronavirus quarantine shelters to save the lone international-standard venue.

“We have worked really hard to prepare the pitch and the grass will be damaged within a week if the stadium is used for quarantine purpose,” said Sherpa. “Instead, we will request schools and colleges to provide their facilities for quarantine,” he added. The ANFA has already provided the local authorities to use its technical centres in Lalitpur, Butwal and Dharan along with women academy in Rautahat for quarantine.

NSC Member Secretary Silwal praised the ANFA for publishing the technical report book. “It will be very useful for those who want to carry out research in league and football,” he said. Although he did not promise the ANFA regarding the quarantine facilities at the Dasharath Stadium, Silwal was of the view of preserving the venue.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 23, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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