Ganesh Thapa

Ganesh Thapa (Nepali: गणेश थापा) is a retired international football player and a former president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA).^[2] He was formerly the president of the South Asian Football Federation and the vice president of Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[3] He is considered one of the greatest Nepali footballers of all time.^[4] He scored the first international goal for Nepal against Philippines in King’s Cup - Bangkok, Thailand in 1982.^[4] He also served as Member of Parliament in Constituent Assembly of Nepal. ^[5]

Ganesh Thapa
गणेश थापा
Born	(1960-10-09) 9 October 1960 (age 64)[1]
President of the All Nepal Football Association
In office 1995–2015
Association football career Position(s) Midfielder, Striker Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1978–1981 Royal Nepal Airlines 1981–1982 Mohammedan SC 1982 Abahani Krira Chakra 1983 Dhaka Wanderers 1984 East Bengal 1985–1986 Mohammedan SC 1987–1988 Manang Marshyangdi 1988–1989 Rahmatganj MFS International career 1979–1989 Nepal * Club domestic league appearances and goals

Family

Thapa is the younger brother of politician Kamal Thapa. Thapa is married to Hajuri Thapa and has two sons, Gaurav Thapa and Abhishek Thapa.

Playing career

Before becoming the president of ANFA, Thapa was a national football player and captain from 1979 to 1989. He played for East Bengal FC in the Calcutta Football League. He also played in the Dhaka First Division League for Mohammedan, Rahmatganj MFS and Dhaka Wanderers. Thapa also represented Abahani Krira Chakra at the 1981–82 Aga Khan Gold Cup.^[6]

Career statistics

International goals

List of international goals scored by Ganesh Thapa^[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
4
5	20 September 1984	Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal	Bhutan		5–0	1984 South Asian Games
6
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
11
12
13
14

Changes to the Nepali football made under Thapa

• Started the already stopped ANFA Martyr's Memorial A-Division League
• Created ANFA Youth Academy
• Gave special focus to youth football
• Tried to make Nepali Football League system more professional
• Development of Nepali Football
• Better facilities and rewards for players

Corruption case

Following the corruption case of Mohammed bin Hammam. British newspaper “The Sunday Times” reported that All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) president Ganesh Thapa had received £115,000 from the banned president of Asian Football Confederation and FIFA’s executive committee.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

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.^[9]

In November 2015 the FIFA Ethics Committee banned him for 10 years.^[11][12] Thapa appealed the decision to FIFA 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

Honours

Nepal

• South Asian Games Silver medal: 1987^[15]