KATHMANDU: In the world of Nepali sports, one name that cannot be forgotten is Ashok KC. In the 1970s, he was not just a successful football player but a formidable cricket player as well. But he chose football.

Similarly, Paras Khadka, who became a successful captain of the Nepali men’s cricket team, also once participated in the U-17 selection competition to become a football player. In the end, he decided to pursue cricket.

At the time when Ashok chose football, this sport was considered much better than cricket in Nepal. That is why he was drawn to football. He earned both fame and money.

Paras saw a brighter future in cricket, which proved to be true. Paras has become an inspiration for a new generation of success for cricket. These two are representative figures in Nepali sports who tell the story of football and cricket.

The situation has changed. Now, cricket players have surpassed football players in terms of earning fame and money. However, according to former president of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), Binay Raj Pandey, the initial history of both football and cricket in Nepal is almost identical. But he believes that in recent times, cricket has risen above football mainly due to managerial efficiency.

“We ran CAN by investing our own money. In football, the Ranas and royalists spent lavishly. When this matter started to cause a stir, they could not fight the way they had thought,” he recalls.

Even now, football is considered a game for the poor, and cricket a game for the rich. In cricket, one has to invest a lot of money in the bat, ball, wicket, and pitch. But the youth’s attraction to this game has grown so much that even after going through a journey of internal conflict, political interference, economic crisis, and sanctions, Nepali cricket has shown its mettle by playing in the T-20 World Cup. And not just once, but twice.

Nepali football has also completed its seven-decade journey. Unfortunately, our football has not been able to rise above the South Asian level.

Same Level, Different Story

Due to government patronage, football was successful in creating a strong foundation from the beginning. A systematic club like New Road Team (NRT) was born even before the establishment of democracy. Later, Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT) was added.

In 1951, the state itself provided great support to organize the Ram Janaki Cup. From 1954, when the Martyrs’ Memorial League was run, Dasharath Stadium was campaigning to change its face.

In comparison to football, it took 43 years for cricket to build a structure from the ground up. Before, in cricket, Bishnu Trophy and Madan Memorial Shield would be organized. Most of the clubs that participated in those competitions were centered in Kathmandu. But from 1980, a separate national competition for cricket started under the name of Jay Trophy, including all zones.

Nepali fans watching the World Cup cricket on a street in America. Photo: ICC.

This gained popularity. Furthermore, after gaining recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1996, Nepali cricket spread not only within the country but also abroad.

On one hand, cricket centralized itself from the district to the village in a changed structure. Football, however, remained within the same narrow circle. The league could not be spread outside Kathmandu.

The majority of club structures remained centralized in the capital. “For cricket, we went looking for talent in every village. That’s why we were successful in producing players like Paras Khadka and Shakti Gauchan. And then we got to play the World Cup,” says Pandey.

If we look at the past, for 40 years, Nepali cricket revolved around Jay Kumar Nath Shah and Binay Raj Pandey. The same situation is seen in football as well. In football, for 30 years, the Thapa family (Kamal Thapa and Ganesh Thapa) reigned.

While cricket was strengthening its administration, dynasticism prevailed in football. Ganesh Thapa, who ran the All-Nepal Football Association (ANFA) for two decades, was banned for 10 years by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) due to corruption. At one time, a strong competitor in South Asia, Nepal is now lagging behind.

“When it comes to money, controversy also arises. We also had such controversies, but we resolved them and reached here,” says Dipendra Chaudhary, former captain and coach of the national cricket team.

During Ganesh Thapa’s tenure, the football coach was made to act like a worker. If things did not go well, they would be removed from the post. On the contrary, cricket gave continuity to the same coach for a long time. As a result, today Nepali cricket has made a turnaround.

The Sri Lankan coach, Roy Dias, looked after both the national and age-group teams of Nepal for a decade. It was during his tenure that the face of age-group cricket changed. While he was there, Nepal played the U-19 Asia Cup and the World Cup five times.

After this, investors in football were attracted to cricket. “Businessmen who were hesitant to advertise in football at one time started to be attracted to cricket from there. It was not that difficult for the association to run its annual calendar,” he adds.

The then-ANFA president Thapa was convicted by FIFA in a corruption case in 2015. Coincidentally, the ICC banned Nepali cricket in 2016. For a few years, the activities of both cricket and football were similar. For some years in between, the kind of hard work the cricket players put in to raise their standard was not seen in football. Because of this, Nepal not only got One Day International (ODI) recognition in cricket but also played the T-20 World Cup 21 years later and again 10 years later.

Sompal Kami, who started playing cricket after watching former Indian cricketer Virat Kohli on the television screen, got to play on the same pitch with him in 2023. “When we go abroad, there are waves of going and many controversies arise, but our players have taken advantage of the opportunities. That was our strength,” says Dipendra Chaudhary.

Cricket players have also not gone abroad. Six players in the national women’s cricket team have already made their “debut” in European countries. The number of people reaching Australia and America has also crossed two dozen. But in comparison to cricket, the data for football is grim.

Two dozen more players who have played for the national team are in Australia. Some have reached the UAE and New Zealand. The situation is that more than five dozen players who are playing in the “A” division league have already made their way abroad, surpassing the seniors. But ANFA does not seem to care about this.

ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai says that this problem is created by the country’s situation rather than football. He says, “Have only football players gone abroad? Haven’t lakhs of Nepalis gone? This is a problem of the country. Not just of football.”

ANFA Vice President Birat Jung Shahi admits that football was not able to show a clear leadership like cricket. He says, “While football was caught in conflict, cricket made progress. Those who came to the football association were caught in the lure of a chair, foreign travel, daily allowances, and financial gain. A vision to lift football was not seen anywhere.”

‘Unbelievable’ budget in football

National football team of Nepal, defender Ananta Tamang. Photo: ANFA

The annual budget of football is Rs 1.56 billion. However, the total budget of cricket is only about Rs 700 million per year.

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) give an annual grant of around 650 to 700 million to ANFA. Apart from this, ANFA earns income from various sources by playing domestic competitions and international friendly matches.

The ICC has been providing Rs 240.5 million annually to CAN. The ACC gives a grant of RS 30.9 million The National Sports Council (NSC) has also been giving an annual grant of Rs 11 million.

CAN spokesperson Chhumbi Lama says that income from sponsors (Rs 93.5 million), ticket sales, bank interest, ground rent, television rights, and donations are also there. This year, CAN has an estimate of an additional grant of Rs 93.2 million from the ACC.

FIFA’s “Control Funding” is big in football. Last year, ANFA earned Rs 358.4 million from donations and advertisements. “Commercial rights” earned Rs 20.3 million and fees and levies earned Rs 10.5. Other sources earned Rs 24.

“The more games are played, the more money will come from FIFA and AFC. Furthermore, money can be made from domestic grounds, tickets, television rights, and other sources,” says ANFA spokesperson Suresh Shah.

ANFA Vice President Shahi claims that the lack of leadership, transparency, and foresight has made ANFA even weaker. “Money came but it could not be spent in a planned manner. We have been playing friendly matches in a hurry. But we could not build a ground and academy for the future,” he says.

Even after seven decades of playing football, ANFA does not have a single ground of its own. The Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, which belongs to the National Sports Council (NSC), has to be fought over to hold competitions. Because of its multi-purpose use, it has been 14 months since it was declared unsuitable for international matches because outsiders can easily enter the ground.

The ground is not in a condition to play age-group matches. Japanese footballers like Keisuke Honda, who have played in two World Cups and have come to Nepal, had criticized Dasharath Stadium as the worst ground they had ever seen.

On the other hand, cricket is doing well in terms of infrastructure. In 1999, only the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground had a changing room and a small VIP lounge built by the Indian television channel G. After 27 years, the TU ground is being re-inspected. Besides, another international cricket ground has been prepared in Mulpani.

In football, on the other hand, they have to go to domestic grounds and play games that do not meet international standards, or they have to go to Malaysia. “It’s frustrating to see this. What to do? Even with so many supporters and players, the leadership hasn’t seen it,” Shahi questions the competence of his own association.

Disparity in salary

When the Nepali cricket team was participating in international competitions, football was providing a salary to its national players. From 2000, clubs like Manang Marshyangdi, RCT, NRT, and Three Star started contracting players on a good salary, as recalled by Nepali football agent Suman Kumar Tandukar.

“Sagar Dai (former captain Sagar Thapa) used to stay in the same hotel as Paras Khadka. At that time, Nepali football players used to earn Rs 50,000-60,000. Sagar Dai would come in a car. Seeing that, the cricketers would be jealous,” he says, “Today, the cricketers are the ones who drive cars. They earn a monthly salary of one lakh. The situation of football players, however, is pathetic.”

Nepali cricket team captain Rohit Paudel with Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma. Photo: ACC.

Today, cricketers have no problem earning Rs 2.5 to 3 million a year. They earn Rs 1-2 million from franchise leagues like the Nepal Premier League (NPL). They also have a monthly salary.

Just as CAN did, ANFA has not been able to tie up its players in a contract. CAN has kept 54 players in a central contract with salary facilities. On the men’s side, five cricketers, including captain Rohit Kumar Paudel, earn a monthly salary of Rs 100,000 in the “A” grade.

Five players in “B” grade earn Rs 70,000, four players in “C” grade earn Rs 55,000, 12 players in “D” grade earn Rs 35,000, and seven players as “Emerging” players earn Rs 25,000 thousand a month.

On the women’s side, four players in “A” grade earn Rs 50,000, one player in “B” grade earns Rs 35,000, two players in “C” grade earn Rs 25,000, and 18 players in “D” grade earn Rs 20,000 a month.

During the election, Pankaj Bikram Nembang had announced that after he was elected ANFA president, he would create an environment where football players would earn Rs 2-2.5 million. But while ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai earns a monthly salary of Rs 268,000, football players are looking for a way to escape because they are not getting their salary on time.

Most players are hesitant to wear the national jersey. They prefer to wear a club jersey and enjoy the off-season. Defender Devendra Tamang says, “When we are told that we will be paid, we are not. What is there to return to the national team for?”

ANFA has been providing a salary of Rs 18,500 to national players. That, too, only if they are included in the team. “It has been so long since we got the allowance that we have started to forget,” he says.

ANFA used to give an apartment to its excellent players to live in. Now, that is also gone.

Guilty leadership

Football is still listed as a popular sport in Nepal. However, it has not been able to be institutionalized according to its popularity.

Even today, many clubs have not been able to become professional. They are only focused on social responsibility. The call to move the clubs towards professionalization has been heard for a long time. However, club management does not seem ready for this. Because of this, football is not developing in the way it should be.

“With time, we have stopped updating. Even today, we are in the same situation as 30 years ago,” says Megh Raj KC, coach of the departmental club Tribhuvan Army. There is no shortage of supporters for Nepali football.

Football is established as a sport with a lot of supporters in Nepali sports. Even with so much love from the supporters, the ANFA leadership does not seem to be capable of bringing a smile to their faces.

Even today, the 14 clubs in the top division are investing Rs 400 to Rs 500 million. No official of any club has said that they have received a return on their investment. They have their own complaints. Coach KC says, “When all the clubs are centralized in Kathmandu, it is a situation where they cannot be handled.”

ANFA has not been able to give a federal form to football either. Everything is centralized. “The leaders kept football confined to Kathmandu for their own small interests. Because of this, talent like in cricket could not be born,” he says.

KC says that the height that cricket has reached now is not a sudden one. “It is the result of decades of hard work, planning, and effort. We are also feeling that lack of leadership,” he says, “If we start to build a new perspective, transparency, and structure from today, it will not take long for the situation of cricket to change.”