The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the men's and women's national teams as well as club competitions. The organisation was founded in 1951 as the All Nepal Football Association and became affiliated with FIFA in 1972. The current President of ANFA is Pankaj Bikram Nembang. Its current headquarters is located in the ANFA House in ANFA Complex, Satdobato.
The entry and initial start-up of football came in Nepal during the Rana regime in 1921. The game was introduced in Nepal by the young players who had learnt this game from other countries. Games was watched by a huge mass of audience and became very famous at that time. However, it is believed that the pioneer of this game in Nepal was Narayan Narsingh Rana of Thamel and Chandrajung Thapa of Naxal.
There were some places, which were used as football ground for palace teams, such as Sujan Khanal, Mrigendra Shamsher Niwas Babarmahal, Mahabir Niwas Tangal Palace, Narshamsher Niwas Singha Durbar, Rudra Shamsher Niwas Bhahadur Bhavan, and Thamel Narsingh camp. Whereas in the decade of 1930s, both local and palace teams commonly used the grounds of Singhdarbar, Chhauni, Gaucharan, Jawalakhel and Lainchaur for playing football. Despite political instability at that time football was played enthusiastically during 1921 to 1990 by various teams without goal posts, but the criterion was that the opponent team could follow the ball to the goal line.
Football development in Nepal had only been possible when ANFA started working from root level. Keeping this in mind, ANFA has given its work priority for building fundamental material for the association. Firstly, ANFA has built a hostel in Satdobato, Lalitpur which has shown their dedication toward the development of football in Nepal by opening an ANFA office with a playground. This work of ANFA has been appreciated everywhere. Before starting a major project, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) provided ANFA an opportunity to represent as a model in FIFA congress. ANFA has built technical centers (or football academies) in Chyasal of Lalitpur, Butwal, Rupandehi, Sunsari and Dharan under the roof of the FIFA Goal project. Similarly, ANFA has planned to open technical centers in the Mid-Western and Far-Western development regions of Nepal in the future.
There are currently 7 Province FAs and 48 district FAs affiliated with the All Nepal Football Association.[1]
| No. | Association | Province | Teams | President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Koshi Province Football Association | Koshi Province | Koshi Province (M, W) | Kishor Rai | |
| 2 | Madhesh Province | Madhesh Province (M, W) | Nepal Karki | ||
| 3 | Bagmati Province | Bagmati Province (M, W) | Rajendra Kumar Shrestha | ||
| 4 | Gandaki Province | Gandaki Province (M, W) | Dipendra Shrestha | ||
| 5 | Lumbini Province | Lumbini Province (M, W) | Bhupendra Bikram Thapa | ||
| 6 | Karnali Province | Karnali Province (M, W) | Pramod Hamal | ||
| 7 | Sudurpashchim Province Football Association | Sudurpashchim Province | Sudurpashchim Province (M, W) | Dinesh Kumar Shrestha |
| Member[2] [3] | Office |
|---|---|
| Pankaj Bikram Nebmang | President |
| Bir Bahadur Khadka | Senior Vice President |
| Dawa Lama | Vice President |
| Birat Jung Shahi | |
| Dipak Khatiwada | |
| Dirgha Bahadur K.C. | |
| Kiran Rai | General Secretary |
| Rabindra Joshi | Treasurer |
| Basanta Aryal | Assistant General Secretary |
| Arun Man Joshi | Assistant General Secretary |
| Damodar Badri Bhattarai | Assistant General Secretary |
| Sarala Shrestha | Member |
| Pema Dolma Lama | |
| Manish Joshi | |
| Anil Malla | |
| Rabindra Chand | |
| Bikas Narayan Shrestha | |
| Bhojraj Shahi | |
| Mahendra Kshetri | |
| Purushottam Thapa | |
| Ramesh Byanjankar | |
| Maniraj Bista | |
| Tika Ram Lama | |
| Rupesh Adhikari | |
| Dipendra Dhimal | |
| Bharat Budha Thapa |
ANFA also runs several competitions:
| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Next edition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior (men's) | |||||
| ANFA Province League | 2023–24 | National Champion | 2024–25 | ||
| National Games | 2022 | APF F.C. | National Games Champion | 2024 | |
| Nepal Super League | 2023-24 | Lalitpur City F.C. | NSL Champion | 2024-25 | |
| A-Division League | 2023–24 | Church Boys United | A-Division Champion | 2024–25 | |
| B-Division League | 2022–23 | Church Boys United | B-Division Champion | 2024–25 | |
| C-Division League | 2024-25 | Bagmati Youth Club | C-Division Champion | 2025-26 | |
| A-Division Futsal League | 2021-22 | Sports Castle Pokhara | A-Division Futsal Champion | 2024-25 | |
| Senior (women's) | |||||
| ANFA Women's League | 2022–23 | APF F.C. | National Women's Champion | 2024–25 | |
| National Games | 2022 | APF F.C. | National Games Champion | 2024 | |
| Youth (men's) | |||||
| Lalit Memorial U-18 Football Tournament | |||||
| ANFA U-16 League | 2024 [4] | ANFA U16 Champion | 2025 | ||
| Youth (women's) | |||||
| ANFA Junior Girl's National Football Championship | |||||