The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) penalised the All Nepal Football Association USD2,000 for delays in commencing the match against Malaysia in the AFC Asian cup qualifiers second leg fixture on November 18.
The AFC has stated that the punishment was under ‘Official Countdown’ matter as per Article 2.2 of AFC Competition Operations Manual.
“The defendant’s representative(s) caused a delay to the commencement of the first period of the match by one minute and 20 seconds and a delay to the commencement of the second period of the match by one minute and 30 seconds,” read the report published by the AFC after its Disciplinary and Ethics Committee’s meeting on December 15.
Meanwhile, it is not only the ANFA facing a penalty. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was also fined USD2,500 under the same clause.
Further, the FAM has also been fined USD10,000 for failing to ensure that their player Mohamad Faisal Bin Abdul Halim, the player of the match in the 1-0 win over Nepal in the second leg fixture of Group F in the Third Round of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers on November 18, participated in the post-match press-conference. Halim has also been slapped with an individual fine of USD10,000 for the same violation under article 31.3 of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Competition Regulations.
Numerically, Nepal and Laos are out of the tournament but they both have one more fixture remaining in the group stage of the qualifiers. While Nepal will face Laos, Malaysia will play Vietnam on March 31 next year.
Nayak Paudel covers sports for The Kathmandu Post. He previously worked at the Post (2018–19) and spent over five years at The Rising Nepal. His reporting spans crime, health, education, and social issues.
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