While wishing the former national captain a successful tenure as the vice-president of south and central zone of Asia, we also hope that his four years at the AFC will prove beneficial for the country’s football which has been lagging behind its potential for some time. As an AFC executive member, Thapa masterminded the club-level AFC President’s Cup and national-level AFC Challenge Cup for the benefits of clubs and players of Nepal. He is the chairman of the organizing committee of both events that has brought much needed international football to the players and fans of Nepal. He should also be credited for bringing back the glory of domestic national football league with grand prize money for clubs and motorcycles and cars as prizes for best players of the tournaments.
Thapa is one of the well-known figures in the country, both due to praises and criticisms he receives. He enjoyed near-monopoly while running the ANFA. Despite that, controversies and conflicts remained in the helm of football and the sports suffered a lot. For many years, the national leagues were not organized. Nepal’s international ranking did not improve despite the ambitious ANFA Academy-produced players being introduced. Quality infrastructures did not feature in the priority and people constantly blamed Thapa for the dwindling situation of quality of the most popular sport in the nation.
As an AFC vice-president, Thapa will now have to look after the development of football in his zone. It is a challenging job, but it is also an opportunity for him to introduce programs, bring in specialists and work for those events that would be beneficial for Nepal as well. His portfolio will also help him request and get more global support for the development of football in the country. We sincerely hope that Thapa’s election will prove beneficial for the development of football in the region, and his tenure will be marked enthusiastically by the players and fans in Nepal.
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