Kathmandu, April 5: The global football bodies FIFA and Asian Football Confederation have issued a serious warning to the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), raising concerns over government interference in its electoral process.
In a joint letter addressed to ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai, FIFA and AFC expressed alarm over a recent decision by Nepal’s National Sports Council (NSC) to suspend ANFA and halt its scheduled elective congress on March 27, 2026.
The NSC suspended ANFA for three months and ordered a halt to its election process. It also instructed amendments to ANFA statutes and directed district associations to revise their own statutes. FIFA and AFC say this action violates football governance rules, which require member associations to operate independently without third-party influence.
The letter reads:
“We refer to the recent joint visit by FIFA and AFC representatives to Nepal to attend the ANFA Elective Congress of 27 March 2026, which was unfortunately called off.
During the aforementioned visit, the joint FIFA/AFC delegation was made aware of a correspondence dated 25 March 2026 (copy attached) from the National Sports Council (NSC) concerning the ANFA Elective Congress of 27 March 2026.
According to the English translation provided, the NSC indicated that “the suspension [of ANFA] has been done for a said period as per the decision of the Executive Committee dated 2082/12/11 (March 25, 2026), to suspend for a period of three months as per sub-section (2) of Section 29 of the National Sports Development Act 2077 (2022)”. We further understand that the NSC has notably instructed ANFA to stop the ongoing electoral process, to amend certain provisions of the ANFA Statutes, and to require district associations to amend their statutes and hold elective general assemblies.
In light of the above, it must be noted that the decision of the NSC has effectively led to the abrupt suspension of ANFA’s electoral process one day prior to the scheduled Elective Congress. Furthermore, it obliges ANFA to amend its statutes. Such decision clearly prevents ANFA from managing its affairs independently and constitutes a clear case of undue third-party interference.
In this respect, we would like to recall the content of the letters dated 16 January and 13 March 2026 (copies attached) addressed by FIFA and the AFC to ANFA, which emphasized that all member associations have the obligation to manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from any third parties (cf. art. 14 par. 1 (i) in conjunction with art. 19 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes and art. 10 par. 1 (t) in conjunction with art. 15 par. 4 of the AFC Statutes).
Consequently, should the NSC fail to cancel or annul the aforementioned decision and confirm in writing to ANFA, within 7 days of receipt of this letter, that said decision has no effect and that ANFA may therefore proceed with resuming and finalising its electoral process, from the stage reached prior to the suspension imposed by the NSC, the matter will be submitted to the FIFA Council for the immediate suspension of ANFA.
Finally, we wish to remind you that a suspension of a member association entails the loss of all membership rights as defined in the FIFA Statutes, including participation in international competitions and access to FIFA and AFC development funds, and that other member associations would be prohibited from maintaining sporting contact with ANFA, and this as long as the suspension is in place.
We therefore kindly request that you immediately forward the content of this letter to the relevant authorities and keep us duly informed of any new developments in this matter.”
