Nepal may miss SAFF Men's Championship for the first time

Nepal will almost certainly not play in the 15th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Men's Championship, which Dhaka, Bangladesh, will host in November. The country was given until September 30 to secure the lifting of its FIFA membership suspension, but resolving the situation by the deadline appears unlikely, Kathmandu Post reports.

Deadline for participation

During the group draw on August 1, SAFF gave Nepal two months to resolve the issues. The Nepalese team was not included in any group, but the federation promised to add it to the tournament hosts' group if the FIFA sanction was lifted by September 30.

SAFF General Secretary Purushottam Kattel said the organization would wait for official confirmation from FIFA or the Asian Football Confederation on Nepal's eligibility to participate. According to him, SAFF set this deadline because it expected the situation to be resolved.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Investigation into the football association

FIFA suspended Nepal's membership on June 24 over third-party interference. Amid a conflict between the authorities and the All Nepal Football Association, the Central Investigation Bureau detained ANFA treasurer Rabindra Joshi and finance department employee Sanjeev Pandey on September 18. Investigators also seized computers and laptops from the ANFA complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur.

Bureau chief Uma Prasad Chaturbedi said the probe concerns financial matters, including the purchase and sale of sports kits, the sale of tickets for the 2026 World Cup, and the relocation of Nepal's home match against Bahrain. The bureau said it had not yet coordinated with FIFA and the AFC and that the investigation could continue for a long time.

Nepal Football Players Association president Bikram Lama called the team's possible absence from SAFF a serious blow to Nepalese football. An ANFA representative speaking anonymously blamed the government for the situation and said FIFA would lift the suspension if the association were allowed to operate autonomously.

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