The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and Nepal Sports and Event Management Pvt. Ltd. (NSEM) have inked a contract for the Nepal Super League that would last for eight years (NSL).
In accordance with the agreement made on Tuesday at the Solti Hotel, NSEM will give ANFA 172 million. According to the agreement, ANFA will get NRs.15 lakhs for the first season. Suresh Shah, a spokesperson for ANFA, and Shreyans Karki, the managing director of NSEM, both signed the joint press statement.
The competition shall
take place between Ashoj & Kartik of next year as per the agreement. This
time, the competition will last for two full months.
On May of last year,
when the entire nation was on lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the
inaugural NSL was played in an empty stadium. Excited by the inaugural
edition's tremendous success, the organizers requested permission from ANFA to
stage the Martyr’s Memorial 'A' Division League from Chaitra 25 to Jestha 15 in
a letter sent on Poush 21. NSEM then submitted a follow-up letter on Chaitra 2
asking for time from Chaitra 25 to Jestha 10 after ANFA sought another letter
claiming that the first one was misplaced.
The date seven days
later on Chaitra 9 was offered by ANFA as asked by the organizers during the
hearing on the letter of Chaitra 2. However, the organizers and participating
franchise teams unilaterally announced the competition's delay on Chaitra 10th,
the day after they received the time they had requested.
Eight teams from the
top division began a protest against the NSL in the interim, which hampered the
third league proposal in a nation where there were already two divisions. When
the organizers began making voluntary preparations without consulting the teams
who were competing by recruiting players for ANFA and professional football,
the top division clubs got suspicious. Additionally, the organizers' skepticism
in the deal with ANFA changed to rage when they realized that ANFA would take
the effort to have the NSL squad recognized by FIFA and the AFC.
Machindra, the
eight-time champion of the Shahid Smarak A division League, Manang Masryangdi,
Three Star, Sankata, New Road Team (NRT), Satdobato Youth, Jawalakhel Youth,
and Friends Club were serious about the fact that some franchise teams have
listed their players as marquee players and listed them in the NSL auction
without their consent. Four clubs initially withdrew from the movement begun by
eight clubs, but Three Star, MMC, Sankata, and NRT persisted throughout the
movement. On Falgun 20, ANFA gave the NSL the go-ahead to halt the auction at
the clubs' request. However, the NSL disregarded it and hired players through
an auction for each of the ten participating franchise clubs.
The projected second
NSL season will have ten teams, as the organizers are getting ready. Seven
teams competed against one another in the previous edition. The champions of
the first edition are the Kathmandu Razors, while the runners-up are the
Dhangadhi FC, Lalitpur City Football Club, Butwal Lumbini, Pokhara Thunders,
and FC Chitwan. This year's new teams are Jhapa FC, Mechi-Ilam, and Birganj
United.
