ANFA fails to keep pace with annual calendar

SOURCE: REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Oct 20: All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has failed to meet the targets set by the two-year annual calendar released after the completion of domestic league early this year.

The ANFA has postponed four programs, including the Junior League (U-14) that was scheduled to kick off next week.

The tournaments and programs were postponed due to insufficient internal preparation, ANFA Chief Executive Officer Indra Man Tuladhar told Republica on Tuesday.

Two among the four programs are tournaments while two are prize distribution programs.

The handing over of apartment for the best player of the league slated for August 20 has not happened. The Rupak Memorial Best Footballer Award that was supposed to take place on September 26 according to the calendar has also been lingering.

The 12th National Women´s Football has also been postponed. The next dates for the three programs except the junior league have not been fixed yet. The junior league that was to begin on Sunday has been rescheduled for December 19, according to Tuladhar.

The Junior League was being sponsored by the Nepal Bank for the past three years. The Junior League couldnot be held on time as the contract with the bank has already expired and a new one hasn´t been inked. “We have forwarded a proposal to Nepal Bank for a new agreement, said Tuladhar.

“They are positive about the issue which will be sorted out within a few days,” he added. The ANFA has sought Rs 0.7 million this time instead of the earlier amount of Rs 0.3 million that the bank used to provide.

All 18 teams of the ´A´ Division League can participate in the Junior League. However, it is not compulsory for all the teams to play. “All the clubs might not have junior teams so it is for the clubs to decide whether to participate or not,” said Tuladhar.

Tuladhar also said that the women´s football was postponed due to the First SAFF Women´s Championship to be held in Bangladesh from December 3-13. “The next schedule will be decided after the SAFF championship,” he said.

Preparations for the two prize distribution programs are underway but the date has not been disclosed, according to Tuladhar. The ANFA is planning to five away the Rupak Memorial awards of the last two years together. The players to receive the awards is yet to be decided by the ANFA working committee.

The ANFA had declared to award apartment to the best player of the domestic league for this year. The best players of the earlier two editions were awarded Toyota Yaris cars. But the ANFA has not yet announced the name of the best player of the last season´s league.