http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2014/04/25/on-saturday/ganesh-thapa-must-go/262090.html
KATHMANDU, APR 25 -
Ganesh Thapa has been heading the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) since 1994 and it’s about time he stepped down and let others lead ANFA to greater heights. No man or woman should be allowed to lead any public organisation for more than a decade. If you can’t bring any changes in 10 years then it would be foolish for all of us to expect you to do any better.
Let’s learn a thing or two from Communist China. The dumpling gang change their leadership every decade. The old ones retire and spend their days swimming, drinking tea and practicing calligraphy. But that’s not the case across the border where our desi dosa wallahs cling on to power until their last breath. I think our netas and public officials follow the ‘desi’ formula and are working together to make our lives miserable.
A few of our ‘A’ Division football clubs have boycotted ANFA meetings because Thapa and his crew have been using ANFA funds to get rich while doling out peanuts to the clubs. Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) won the league last year and they have not received the full cash prize of Rs 7.5 million yet. Maybe Thapa and his lads want to pay the league winners in installments that will go on for another decade.
ANFA receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from FIFA to develop football in Nepal but most of the funds go to pay off district presidents and other members who have voting rights. No wonder then that Thapa has two-thirds majority in the executive committee and he knows very well that no one can kick him out unless those who have received gift hampers suddenly develop a sense of morality and do the right thing.
Thapa is also good at keeping close ties with our politicians. A few weeks ago, one of our footballers received an apartment and our Emperor was there to hand over the gift. Both Thapa and our Emperor have three things in common: One, they both have been heading their respective organisation for more than two decades. They both act like they have the divine right to do so. And the most important stuff is of course the moolah. The Emperor controls all the funds and so does Thapa, and they both use it to win over other comrades to help them stay on top.
Anil Gurung received a car thanks to Ncell. I hope ANFA will be kind enough to give him a free monthly voucher that will allow him to fill up 20 litres of petrol at least. Our ANFA officials don’t have to worry about paying their bills but our footballers and clubs are struggling with financial problems.
It’s not that we don’t have good footballers in the country. Bimal Bhai is doing great in his trial with a European club, and some of our other footballers are playing in professional leagues in Asia. But here at home, the lazy bums at ANFA fail to run the league consistently. One year, they do it and the next year, they scrap it and make it tough for our football clubs to survive.
Thapa’s son received US$100,000 a few years ago from a Qatari who had high hopes of becoming the FIFA head someday. Thapa claimed that it was a personal loan deal and it has already been cleared. If Thapa had brains instead of only
brawn then he would have asked the Qatari to provide millions to develop football in this country. Maybe the Qataris would have even built us a few football stadiums and we would be more than happy to have ‘Qatar Foundation’ plastered all over the premises.
The cricketers boycotted the national tournament and our Cricket Association wallahs were forced to sit down to work towards resolving the crisis. Maybe our football clubs should all boycott ANFA and without any football clubs in the country, ANFA can then organise maybe a two-a-side football tournament and have their own officials play the game.
Ganesh Thapa shows no signs of quitting and instead, he challenges those not happy with his dictatorship to throw him out. He believes that ANFA is the most transparent organisation in the country. Maybe, our football clubs should demand all the hisab kitab and how much dough he has spent so far making other district presidents and voting members happy. After all, in this land of ours, you need the money and the muscles as well to win elections, be it national politics or in any other organisations.
Thapa is a former national team captain and he knows very well how hard it is to survive playing football in this country. But Thapa and his crew are enjoying the high life while our football players play for the love of the game and barely make enough to live a decent life. We may not play in the World Cup anytime soon but we should be winning most of our matches against our South Asian rivals at the very least. Thapa’s two decades of dictatorship must come to an end but we need someone who will do his or her best to develop football instead of just having ANFA officials and their kids looting the funds.
Guffadi is a grumpy old man who blogs at guffadi.blogspot.com. You may contact him at maguffadi@gmail.com
Posted on: 2014-04-26 08:57
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