Despite a three-year failure to organise a national championship, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) retains the backing of the AFC and Fifa. They have issued a deadline on 4 May for the government to reinstate the suspended ANFA, following a string of administrative and legal breaches. Nepal’s players have become the first victims of the political standoff.
By Romain Molina and Sudesh Baniya
Dipesh Dhimal felt trapped. He had dedicated his life to football - he came up through the ranks, signed for Armed Police Force FC, one of Nepal’s most decorated departmental clubs, at the age of 21 and believed the game would take him somewhere - and yet in 2026, the defender, employed by local club APF, had little income. So, he took a drastic decision: he left Nepal behind and moved to Melbourne.
“This is not a choice, but a sad reality that we’re pushed into,” said Dhimal in an interview with Josimar from Australia where football is no longer his livelihood. His story mirrors that of at least a hundred Nepali professional footballers who have moved abroad to earn their living.
Football at home has come to a standstill. It’s been over a 1,000 days since Nepal’s topflight, the Martyrs’ Memorial A-Division League, established in 1954, has staged a match. No timeline has been confirmed for the resumption of the league. Between 1,250 and 2,100 players, across three tiers of Nepali football, will be deprived of regular football for yet another year, according to Bikram Lama, the president of the Nepal Football Player Association.
“It’s been almost three years now,” said Lama. “We have continuously tried to bring this issue to the attention...
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