Kathmandu. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) former president Ganesh Thapa has filed a defamation case against general secretary Kiran Rai in the Kathmandu District Court on  Tuesday. 

Thapa, also the former vice president of Asian Football Confederation, was banned from all football related activities for 10 years in 2015 for ‘various acts of misconduct’  by the world football governing body FIFA.

According to Thapa, he filed the complaint after the general secretary Rai made false allegations against him during a television interview telecasted on March 1. 

Issuing a press statement on Tuesday, Thapa claimed that Rai made false and baseless accusations against him and he has taken legal action by filing a case at the District Court.

“In a television interview, ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai made baseless allegations against me claiming that I had misappropriated Rs 170 million from ANFA coffers and later I deposited Rs 80 million following a probe by the Department of Money Laundering. He even went on to say that I was out of my mind,”  Thapa wrote in the press release. 

Following Rai’s interview, Thapa had challenged Rai through his social media post either to prove the allegations or self-reproach publicly otherwise he would take legal action. “He turned deaf ear to what I said, forcing me to file a complaint at the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police. Since he has not corrected his statements, I have now filed a case in the Kathmandu District Court as well.”

Thapa, also stated that he was ready to face legal action if it was proved that he had deposited Rs 80 million at ANFA’s account as claimed by Rai.