Closed-room attempt by ANFA to persuade players fails; talks suspended after live broadcast falls through

Kathmandu – The scheduled talks today between the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the Nepal Football Players’ Association (NFPA) have been postponed. The players had insisted that as a precondition to the discussion, everyone should have the right to receive information, and demanded the talks be broadcast live.

In response, ANFA stated that the matters were internal and should not be broadcast live, and thus the talks will not take place immediately. ANFA had invited the players to the meeting in an effort to persuade them. However, the players held firm on their demand for live coverage and uncertainty took hold.

On Monday morning, the players’ association posted a status saying the talks must be live. Its president, Bikram Lama, said that since ANFA was not ready to go live, the players declined to sit in the discussion. He said, “We had demanded that the discussion be live so that everyone could follow it; but the General Secretary said the institutional matter should be discussed without live broadcast. We then informed them that a discussion is not possible.”

ANFA’s decision to suspend the Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League and instead sign an agreement with clubs to hold a national league angered the players. They have been demanding resumption of the A Division League, which has not been held for years, and recently held a sit-in at ANFA’s gate. They have served an ultimatum that if their problem is not resolved within 7 days they will intensify the protest.

Last Thursday, under the leadership of the NFPA, players staged a demonstration in front of ANFA’s headquarters at Satdobato, handing over their medals and launching a broad protest. The players argue that playing is their fundamental right and that they are compelled to come to the streets because of ANFA’s failures.