The much-awaited 46th edition of the Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League, the highest division of club football in Nepal, will begin on December 16 this year, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) announced on Friday. The 45th edition of the annual competition concluded in June 2023.

Alongside the A Division, ANFA has finalised dates for B and C divisions, women’s league, youth leagues and grassroots football. They have all been listed in the calendar for 2025, made public by ANFA during its Ordinary Congress in Dhulikhel.

By the time the A Division League ends on June 14, 2026, the C Division League will have started and ended too. The third-tier league has been slated to be held from December 21, 2025, to February 27, 2026. Meanwhile, C Division qualifiers will begin next month: from June 1 to July 30.

The top two teams from the B Division that has been going on at the Satdobato-based ANFA Complex since February 9 will be promoted to the A Division in December. The next edition of the second-tier club football tournament will begin on March 4 next year.

As per the ANFA, they aim to organise all three tiers of the club football league on time now onwards.

Similarly, the ANFA Women’s League will begin in September. The top-tier women’s club competition of the country saw the Armed Police Force win the previous edition in January this year.

The closest tournament proposed by ANFA would be the ANFA President League. It will commence on May 18 between the provincial league champions and end on June 7.

Had everything gone to ANFA’s plan, Nepali fans would be enjoying a knockout tournament between the A Division clubs now. A league-cum-knockout tournament was proposed from May 3 to 17, with the winner progressing to the club competition by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Nonetheless, the clubs refused to participate, and the event did not begin. Yet, the governing body of football has planned an ANFA Cup Knockout Championship later in November.

There are also tournaments comprising schools from 49 districts with football associations under ANFA.

Starting with inter-district school-level tournaments for U14 and U17 boys and U14 and U16 girls, the winners will progress to the provincial-level tournament (August 21 to September 10) and then the national-level tournament (October 8 to 17).

There are also youth leagues for U14 and U17 girls alongside U16 and U18 boys.

“Making the sport active throughout the year would aid in football’s long-term development. Domestic football has been prioritised and it will be the foundation for our national squads,” said Suresh Shah, the ANFA spokesperson.

National duties

The Nepali national teams, underage and senior, men’s and women’s, have their respective tournaments throughout the year.

The U19 men begin their campaign at the SAFF U19 Championship in India from Saturday, while the senior men’s team will travel to Sri Lanka in June for the SAFF Championship.

The U17 and U23 men’s teams will also participate in the SAFF Championship in October and the AFC Asian Cup in September, respectively. The FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Third Round will see the senior men’s team face Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia as well.

Meanwhile, the women’s teams are busier than men’s. The senior women’s team will take part in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers by travelling to Uzbekistan in June.

There are SAFF U20 and U17 women’s championships in July and October, respectively, while the AFC U17 and U20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers are scheduled for October and August, respectively.

Futsal tournaments

ANFA, on the calendar, has announced the A Division Futsal League from mid-July to mid-August. The league will see 10 teams, of which eight will be the best of the previous edition.

The remaining two will have to qualify through the League Qualifiers’ Second Round from May 20 to June 5.

Similarly, in November, there will be ANFA Inter-College Futsal Championship. A month later, in mid-December, the ANFA Women’s Futsal Championship will be organised.

Rs1.56 billion spent in 2025

On the other hand, ANFA said the body had received and spent Rs1.56 billion in 2025 for football-related activities.

In 2025, ANFA received over Rs330 million from FIFA. The AFC provided Rs58.50 million as a regular budget and an additional Rs129 million for physical infrastructure development.

ANFA also got Rs14.495 million from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) and other bodies in the ongoing year.

Further, the authority generated Rs158.400 million through media, broadcasting and marketing of matches, while Rs43.750 million from ticket sales.

“All that money was spent on salaries, administration, tournaments, training, coaching and infrastructure,” the ANFA stated.