Kathmandu. Dato Amarjit Singh Gill, president of The Asian Cycling Federation and a member of the UCI Management Committee, is shocked to see the complaints, disappointment and deep institutional crisis of sports during his visit to Nepal. Gill, who is in Nepal at the invitation of Nepal Cycling Association, met Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) General Secretary Nilendra Shrestha, Vice-President Sunil Shrestha, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Founding Coordinator Dr Ashim Bhandari, Member Dr Sudhir Shrestha and other chief sports officials. Sports personalities like Kamal BD Bhattarai, Bhanu Chand and Sudip Poudel were also present on the occasion.
In the meeting held during the courtesy visit, he complained about serious political interference and institutional manipulation. The officials present briefed Gill in detail about the growing political influence seen in nepal’s sports sector, strategies to prevent fair elections and tendency to concentrate power.
The two-term limitation provision in the NOC law was the most criticized. This has prevented former chairman Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan from re-contesting. It has been alleged that this provision has been included for the political benefit of the current chairman Jeevan Ram Shrestha. This rule has been brought under the National Sports Development Act, 2077, which Shrestha himself had forwarded when he was member secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC). Officials of various organizations told Gill that Shrestha has used international support — especially the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) — to lead his people by breaking the democratic process in many associations.
Although 30 out of 32 voters of The Nepal Swimming Association supported the Jagat Group, the OCA and the Asian Swimming Association recognized the group led by Mohammad Hussain Muslim, who was in a minority. Many have called the move an “ambush of democracy”. Cycling fell into the same fate. Elections have not been held since an ad-hoc committee headed by Gopal was formed in 2022. Later, the NSC intervened and formed an interim committee. A similar situation has been seen in badminton, tennis, gymnastics, weight lifting and handball associations.
Before the NOC election, five associations filed a petition in the Supreme Court to stop the constitutional amendment. The court also issued an order. The NSC and the media also gave public information. However, the NOC ignored the court’s order and the general body meeting was held. General Secretary Nilendra Shrestha and Vice-President Sunil Shrestha admitted that it was unethical to violate the court’s order. ’
The nsc board, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the court later termed the elections held on the basis of this as ‘illegal’. However, the OCA still recognizes the committee headed by Jeevan Ram Shrestha. This situation has caused deep frustration and anger in the field of sports. An official who attended the meeting questioned, “When will Nepal get rid of this cycle of manipulation? When will the game depend on leadership and democracy?”
Dato’ Amarjit Singh Gill was surprised by the facts presented. “This is not politics within sports, it is politics within politics. He said he did not expect such a deep crisis in a country like Nepal. “Allowing athletes and associations to fall prey to such political games is an insult to the Olympic spirit,” he said. Gill has pledged to take up the matter with the international sports bodies. The Minister for Youth and Sports had also warned some time ago that if the elections are not fair, the credibility of Nepal’s sports may be lost. “Sports associations should be free,” the minister had said, adding that the system should not be allowed to be occupied for personal interests. ’
This crisis is now raising serious questions both domestically and internationally. Can the OCA continue to support the leadership that has been declared illegal by nepal’s courts and ministries? Will international sports federations intervene or watch silently, and when will Nepali athletes get a fair and accountable system? Until these questions are answered, the Nepali sports sector is running out of self-interest under the guise of power and power.
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