FIFA suspends ANFA with immediate effect, bars Nepal from international football – The Himalayan Times – Nepal’s No.1 English Daily Newspaper

KATHMANDU, JUNE 25

Nepal’s football has officially been frozen out of international competition after FIFA suspended the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) with immediate effect, citing “flagrant violations” of its statutes by the National Sports Council (NSC).

In a letter to ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai dated June 24, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström said the Bureau of the FIFA Council had decided to act after months of unresolved conflict between ANFA and the NSC over the federation’s electoral process, which FIFA and the AFC had repeatedly described as undue third-party interference.

With the suspension, ANFA loses all rights as a FIFA member. Nepal’s national and club teams can no longer take part in international competitions, and neither ANFA nor its officials can access FIFA or AFC development programmes, courses or training, until the suspension is lifted.

FIFA has set two conditions for restoring ANFA’s membership: a full and unconditional revocation of the NSC’s March 25 decision along with reinstatement of the current ANFA Executive Committee, and that ANFA be allowed to complete the electoral process it had already begun, in line with its own statutes.

A months-long standoff

The dispute traces back to December 2025, when ANFA informed FIFA of plans to hold its Elective Congress ahead of its mandate’s expiry in June 2026, with elections initially set for February 11. The process was repeatedly delayed amid a Patan High Court injunction and objections from NSC, which directed ANFA in January to amend its statutes under the National Sports Development Act.

Although the High Court lifted the suspension on the electoral process in February and ANFA rescheduled its Congress for March 27, the NSC intervened again. On March 25, the NSC suspended the ANFA Executive Committee for three months, accusing the federation of proceeding with elections without its approval and of prioritising international body directives over national law. The NSC also ordered district associations to amend their statutes and hold fresh elections.

FIFA and the AFC immediately objected. On April 5, the two bodies warned that the NSC’s move disrupted ANFA’s polls just a day before the scheduled congress and gave the NSC seven days to reverse its decision, failing which the matter would go to the FIFA Council for possible suspension.

What followed was months of back-and-forth: a joint virtual meeting in April, repeated deadlines set and missed, a temporary lifting of the suspension by the NSC in May that ANFA said never actually took effect, and travel bans imposed on ANFA officials that kept them from attending the AFC Congress in April, the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup opener in Mexico on June 11, and the FIFA Summit in Miami in mid-June.

With no written confirmation from the NSC that its March 25 order had been fully revoked, FIFA and the AFC referred the matter to the FIFA Council, resulting in Tuesday’s suspension.

What it means

Nepal’s senior men’s and women’s national teams, along with all club sides, are now ineligible for AFC and FIFA-sanctioned tournaments until the suspension is lifted. The letter, copied to the AFC, underscores that the ban will remain “until further notice.” Similarly, FIFA has also written to all members of the FIFA of the decision.