The ANFA Money Trail – Some fodder for PAC

 In the latter, there is a list of 17 points that have been raised by the Public Accounts Commission (PAC) in its investigation against Ganesh Thapa.

I want to highlight 2 key points in this article.

I did a quick search on google and came up with two links relating to GOAL projects supported by FIFA in Nepal and the Financial Assistance Program supported by FIFA in Nepal.

Details about GOAL project funding to ANFA, Nepal is available from the FIFA website at the following link – http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=nep/development-activities/goal/index.html. Based on the information provided on the FIFA website, ANFA has received the following amounts of money for different projects in Nepal.

1. 25-09-2012 – $5,00,000 – upgrade of facilities at the location of the ANFA HQ, ANFA Academy and Artificial turf in Kathmandu

2. 26-10-2010 – $4,00,000 – Financing of three existing ANFA football academies in Lalitpur (Kathmandu), Dharan and Butwal.

3. 07-11-2005 – $4,00,000 – Renovation and completion of the existing technical center located in the ANFA complex and technical center at Chysal

4. 13-02-2001 – $5,00,000 – Construction of three regional centers.

This adds up to $18,00,000 for GOAL projects since 2001.

Similarly, details about the FAP (Financial Assistance Program) funding that Nepal has received from FIFA is available at http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=nep/development-activities/FAP/index.html. According to the information provided on this page, ANFA has received funds for development activities since 2010 (the year that FIFA started offering FAP to member nations and has imposed a requirement on each member nation to appoint a Technical Director)

1. 2014 – $2,50,000

2. 2013 – $2,50,000

3. 2012 – $2,50,000

4. 2011 – $5,50,000 (which includes a bonus of $3,00,000)

5. 2010 – $5,00,000 (which includes a bonus of $2,50,000)

The funds under FAP are offered for hosting football competitions, for planning and administration, event management, infrastructure and other miscellaneous expenses. It is worth noting that ANFA received two bonuses from FIFA in 2010 and 2011 (a total of $5,50,000). The total funds received under FAP add up to $1800000.

ANFA has apparently received $6,00,000 from QFA. I say apparently because I cannot find any concrete evidence to support this.

Ganesh Thapa has received $1,00,000 from Bin Hammam and 1,15,000 GBP from Kemko Construction. I believe that Ganesh Thapa has publicly accepted that he has received this money for personal business reasons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBPT4HFq7tU). It is worth noting that Kemko Construction is the company linked to the bribing scandal surrounding Qatar’s bid for hosting the World Cup in 2022.

What is interesting is the timing of the funds and the amount given. I think Hamam gave money to Thapa to boost Qatar’s chances of winning the 2022 bid. But why did QFA give money to ANFA? Is it to compensate for the deaths of hundreds of Nepali labourers (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/16/qatar-world-cup-400-deaths-nepalese) working on the Qatari stadiums in preparation for World Cup 2022? Is it blood money? Is ANFA and through it, Ganesh Thapa is benefiting indirectly because of  the deaths of poor, innocent Nepalis in Qatar?

I do hope that PAC and the Nepal Government get through the bottom of the allegations and hold the culprits to account. Nepali football should not suffer any further because of corruption and poor governance.