Kathmandu, July 2 – The Asian Football Confederation has notified the All Nepal Football Association that Nepal's national and club teams can participate in regional tournaments provided FIFA lifts its ban prior to the respective competition deadlines.
An official letter dated June 27 from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), released by ANFA on Tuesday, indicates that Nepal missed out on qualifying for the AFC Women's Champions League 2026/27.
However, Nepal would still have been excluded from the competition even if FIFA hadn't suspended ANFA. The Martyr's Memorial ANFA Women's League was delayed on the first day, and without a champion, Nepal wouldn’t have had a team to compete in the AFC Women’s Champions League Qualifying Round unless the AFC made exceptions.
Nevertheless, Nepal still has the chance to dispatch its squads for two competitions—the 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers and the 2027 AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
According to a letter authored by Datuk Seri Windsor John, the general secretary of the AFC, and addressed to Kiran Rai, the general secretary of ANFA, Nepal will be eligible to compete in the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers provided that FIFA lifts its suspension by July 13, which falls three days prior to the draw for the Preliminary Stage scheduled on July 16.
In addition, Nepal has the opportunity to participate in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers provided the ban is lifted by August 1, which is 30 days prior to the qualifiers.
Nepal had previously entered submissions for the AFC tournaments prior to FIFA's ban on June 24.
"If the ban imposed on ANFA is not revoked by the specified deadlines, its representatives and club teams will be excluded from the respective tournaments," stated the AFC in its latest correspondence.
The ANFA has faced an indefinite suspension due to ongoing external intervention by government officials. This suspension will be revoked once two requirements are fulfilled.
FIFA's initial condition requires the complete cancellation of the National Sports Council's ruling from March 25, which involved the suspension of ANFA and instructions to revise the Statutes, with no exceptions and the return of the present ANFA Executive Committee.
The second requirement involves enabling ANFA to complete, at the earliest opportunity and in line with its statutes and rules, the election procedure that has already been started.
