Thapa, who introduced boxing in Nepal with the establishment of Kamal Pokhari Boxing Club about 50 years ago, termed the ongoing power struggle within NBA as a ´tragic incident´ in the history of Nepali boxing. [break]
Thapa made such remarks following the farewell of Asian Games medalist Maharjan by both the factions of NBA, who claim themselves to be the legitimate governing body of Nepali boxing.
Octogenarian Ale, who reportedly learnt the art of boxing while he was in the Indian Army, says that he had never seen such a problem throughout his life.
“I am 84 years old and this is the first time I´ve witnessed a problem of such scale in NBA,” said Ale, who was invited to the farewell function by the faction led by Rabiraj Thapa.
Former NBA President Laxman Shumsher Thapa vented his ire on both the factions, the other one headed by Rajiv Shrestha, saying that they have been made advisors but the boxing officials do not listen to them.
He also recalled that there were some altercation within the NBA some eight years ago but they restrained from heating up the issue for the sake of national dignity.
“We remained silent after international invigilators came here for the elections just to save our pride,” said Thapa.
Rabiraj Thapa, who was elected as NBA president in 2004 for the first time and again in 2008 for the second term, said that foreigners have become active because National Sports Council (NSC) has not been able to take timely action to resolve the problem.
“The NSC should have formed a probe committee. Why is it taking so long to probe the issue?” questioned Thapa.
The gravity of the issue can be reflected just by the presence of Laxman Shumsher Thapa, who made it to the function despite suffering from both kidney failure.
Thapa, who has to undergo dialysis twice a week, further said, “They didn´t listen to us. Both Rabiraj Thapa and Rajiv Shrestha promised to give the voting rights to senior members like us but they didn´t keep their words. Now they call us when there is a problem,” said Thapa.
Reminiscing the past days, Ale said that they used to stand united and had won four bronze medals while he was the chief coach during the 1986 Asian Games. But now boxing has degraded due to politics.
“It´s all because of politics. I had never expected such a situation would arise,” said Ale.
“That happens when you pick someone from the street and trust him wholeheartedly,” he said of Shrestha, who was controversially elected the president of NBA on February 18 and doesn´t have a boxing background.
Shrestha´s faction had earlier bade farewell to Maharjan but had declined to comment on the issue. The only thing Shrestha claimed was that his faction had lobbied for Maharjan´s participation in the Asian qualifiers.
Thapa-faction dismissed the claim saying that their committee´s treasurer Ram Awal had paid $300 from his personal funds for Maharjan´s registration.
NSC, on its part, termed the farewell a ´farce´. NSC member secretary Yuvaraj Lama snubbed the invitation from both the factions saying such a dramatic farewell had only demoralized the player.
“I decided to snub the function because it is nothing but a farce,” said Lama.
Lama said that the NSC´s board meeting will sort out the problem as soon as possible.
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