The Federation Internationale de Football Association has suspended the All Nepal Football Association with immediate effect. The FIFA Council Bureau made this executive decision after finding a serious violation of Article 14, Paragraph 1(i) and 3 of the FIFA Statutes, which strictly prohibits third-party interference in member associations. This disciplinary action follows a series of warnings issued by the global football governing body regarding ongoing administrative instabilities within the domestic football administration.
The operational crisis within the football body intensified following internal disputes among top leadership during an early election process. In response to these governance issues, the National Sports Council, which serves as the state sports regulatory body in Nepal, suspended the football association for three months on March 24, alleging that the association failed to follow the legal tiered election processes mandated by national law. Although the state regulatory body lifted this local suspension after one month, the administration did not remove the football executives from the Department of Immigration's restricted travel list.
The geopolitical and administrative tension escalated significantly when immigration authorities stopped the football association president, Pankaj Bikram Nembang, and general secretary, Kiran Rai, at the airport as they attempted to travel to Mexico to attend the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. This airport restriction was viewed with extreme gravity by the international governing body, which interpreted the travel ban as a direct form of state-level interference. The football association had previously cautioned that such actions by national sports authorities constituted illegal third-party meddling that could lead to international suspension.
Prior to this executive decision, the state sports council and the international governing body engaged in discussions aimed at resolving the governance dispute, and national authorities had officially invited international representatives to Nepal for formal negotiations. However, the turning back of the top football executives at the airport was ultimately processed as a critical breach of administrative autonomy by the international council. This international suspension coincides with the official conclusion of the four-year tenure of the current executive committee on June 19.
