Ganesh Thapa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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गणेश थापा | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1960-10-09)9 October 1960 (age 65)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the All Nepal Football Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1995–2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ganesh Thapa (Nepali:गणेश थापा) is a retired internationalfootball player and a former president of theAll Nepal Football Association (ANFA).[3] He was formerly the president of theSouth Asian Football Federation and the vice president ofAsian Football Confederation (AFC).[4] He is considered one of the greatest Nepali footballers of all time.[5] He scored the first international goal for Nepal againstPhilippines inKing’s Cup -Bangkok,Thailand in 1982.[5] He also served asMember of Parliament inConstituent Assembly of Nepal.[6]
Thapa is the younger brother of politicianKamal Thapa. Thapa is married to Hajuri Thapa and has two sons, Gaurav Thapa and Abhishek Thapa.
Before becoming the president of ANFA, Thapa was a national football player and captain from 1979 to 1989. He played forEast Bengal FC in theCalcutta Football League. He also played in theDhaka First Division League forMohammedan,Rahmatganj MFS andDhaka Wanderers. Thapa also representedAbahani Krira Chakra at the 1981–82Aga Khan Gold Cup.[7]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 May 1982 | Bangkok, Thailand |  Thailand | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1982 King's Cup |
| 2 | 4 September 1983 | Dhaka Stadium,Dhaka, Bangladesh |  Bangladesh | 2–4 | 1983 President's Gold Cup | |
| 3 | 18 September 1984 | Dasharath Stadium,Kathmandu, Nepal |  Maldives | 4–0 | 1984 South Asian Games | |
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| 5 | 20 September 1984 | Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal |  Bhutan | 5–0 | 1984 South Asian Games | |
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| 7 | 4 December 1986 | Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal | Bangladesh | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1986 Panchayat Silver Jubilee Cup |
| 8 | 21 November 1987 | Salt Lake Stadium,Kolkata, India | Bangladesh | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1987 South Asian Games |
| 9 | 25 April 1987 | Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal |  Pakistan | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1988 Summer Olympics qualifiers |
| 10 | 23 November 1987 | Salt Lake Stadium,Kolkata, India | Bhutan | 6–2 | 1987 South Asian Games | |
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Following the corruption case ofMohammed bin Hammam. British newspaper “The Sunday Times” reported thatAll Nepal Football Association (ANFA) president Ganesh Thapa had received £115,000 from the banned president of Asian Football Confederation and FIFA’s executive committee.[9]The Associated Press revealed that Thapa received an illegal gift of$100,000 from bin Hammam in 2009. The money was deposited into the personal bank account of Thapa's son, Gaurav Thapa.[10][11]
Thapa later claimed that he borrowed the money for his personal use, and such a revelation would not tarnish the image of Nepal and Nepali football.[10]
In November 2015 theFIFA Ethics Committee banned him for 10 years.[12][13] Thapa appealed the decision toFIFA Appeal Committee. The Appeal was rejected and his ban from FIFA Ethics Committee was partially confirmed. His ban started on 16 April 2015 and ended on 16 April 2025.[14]
In 2017, Thapa stated that as far as the corruption case was concerned, he had already received clean chit in Nepal, and that time would prove that he was innocent in relation to cases outside Nepal.[15]
Nepal