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Kathmandu Wednesday March 21, 2001 Chaitra 08, 2057.
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ANFA row forced me to quit : Constantine
Post Report
KATHMANDU, March 20 - The power struggle for control for the national
football association and the present crisis in the football arena, which has affected the
performance of the team forced him to quit, said the recently resigned national football
coach.
Stephen Constantine, the national football coach, put in his papers on
Saturday. There is an intense power struggle in the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA)
between the factions led by Ganesh Thapa and Geeta Rana, both claiming to be legitimate
President of the national association. While Thapa is backed by FIFA and AFC, Rana has the
support of Nepal Sports Council.
Addressing a press conference today, Constantine said that due to the present
crisis, his job was directly affected and added, "There is no point for me to
continue as a coach since there is no basis to work under present circumstances."
He further added that since all the national players refused to join the
training camps organized by either of the ANFA, he could not train the players to prepare
them for the World Cup qualifier. "It is then I made the decision to resign from the
post (of national coach)."
Constaintine, who was very emotional during the conference said, "I of
course am not the only one to suffer; ... the players and the fans of Nepalese football
have also had to suffer while the political wrangling has continued." He requested
all the concerned parties to put their personal interest behind them and think of their
country and the damage that their wrangling was causing to Nepalese football.
Answering the query of the journalists whether the ANFA has shown any concern
over his resignation, he replied that neither of the ANFA has tried to contact him in this
matter.
While reading out his resignation, he said, "It is now common knowledge
world wide that as a result of this situation, we lost the right to host the World Cup
qualifier here in Kathmandu and all the benefits that come with hosting such an event and
the games were moved to Kazakhstan and Iraq respectively." This should have been a
warning to the parties concerned that the fate of country’s football was on the way
to self-destruction, said Constantine. He appealed for a compromise that would benefit
everyone and bring new life into Nepalese football.
When asked if there is any chance for him come back as a coach in future, he
said that he would be glad to come back if the crisis of ANFA is resolved and the
concerned parties sit together to set up a healthy working atmosphere for him to work.
He also added that under present circumstances it would be better for Nepal
not to take part in the World Cup qualifier to save the country’s face in the
international football arena.
He complained about the involvement of the politicians in the sports and
stressed the need of more experienced people with skill to deal with the press and handle
management in the sports sector. |
