Kathmandu: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has imposed a fine of USD 10,000 (approximately Rs 1.4 million) on the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) for withdrawing from the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The decision was made during a meeting of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee on August 21. In its ruling, the committee stated: “The Defendant withdrew from the competition one hundred and six (106) days before its first scheduled match.”

In addition to the fine, Nepal has been disqualified from participating in the next edition of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup. ANFA has been ordered to settle the fine within 30 days from the date the decision was communicated.

As with previous incidents, ANFA attributed the withdrawal to “technical reasons.”
“It was just a technical issue, and we had informed the AFC more than three months ahead of the tournament, hoping we would not be penalized,” said ANFA spokesperson Suresh Shah. However, he failed to clarify the specific nature of the technical problem that prevented Nepal from sending a team.

This incident comes amid growing uncertainty in Nepal’s domestic football scene owing to recent situation of the country following Gen Z movement. ANFA had earlier suspended all on-field football activities, including the ANFA Women’s Club Championship, the ANFA U-16 Youth Championship, and the proposed Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League, which was initially scheduled for December and January.

Nepal’s top-flight league has already been on hiatus for over two years. The last edition took place between March and June 2023.