Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau has launched an investigation into alleged financial irregularities, fraud and match-related wrongdoing at the All Nepal Football Association, adding to the pressure on the country’s football governing body.

CIB investigators have arrested ANFA treasurer Rabindra Joshi and accounts officer Sanjiv Pandey following preliminary inquiries.

Additional Inspector General Uma Chaturvedi, the CIB chief, said that the investigation followed complaints concerning the purchase of players’ kits, the staging of matches in Bahrain and alleged fraud.

“We received a letter from the National Sports Council and another complaint, and have taken two people into custody for investigation,” said Chaturvedi. “We have also taken laptops and CPUs from the ANFA office and are examining them.”

The probe is examining whether the alleged conduct breached Nepal’s sports laws and involved unlawful financial wrongdoing too. Police have sent the seized electronic equipment to Nepal Police’s Digital Forensic Laboratory.

The Lalitpur District Court has allowed investigators to keep the two arrested officials in custody for four days for investigation. “During this period, we will take further statements and conduct questioning,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Anupam Shamsher Rana, who is also the bureau’s spokesperson.

The investigation follows years of complaints over alleged irregularities at ANFA. Complaints have been filed with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. A complaint was filed at the parliament’s Public Account Committee a few years ago.

In December 2018, the CIAA had asked the sports ministry to investigate allegations, leading to the formation of a committee headed by ministry joint secretary Arun Prasad Neupane.

An investigation officer said a fresh complaint had been filed after allegations that those accused in the past had been shielded. “The bureau received a complaint from the National Sports Council as well as another separate complaint. We then began the investigation,” the officer said. As part of the probe, the bureau raided the association’s office in Lalitpur on Friday.

One major focus is the decision to play both Nepal-Bahrain fixtures in Bahrain during the joint qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Under the home-and-away format, one match was supposed to be played in Nepal and the other in Bahrain.

“The two matches were supposed to be divided between Nepal and Bahrain, but both were played in Bahrain,” said a police officer involved in the investigation.

ANFA officials have told investigators that Nepal could not host its home fixture because the Asian Football Confederation had deemed the pitch at Kathmandu’s Dasharath Stadium unsuitable for an international match. Both fixtures were therefore played at Bahrain’s National Stadium.

Nepal lost the first match 5-0 and the second 3-0. Police are examining whether a neutral venue should have been arranged and whether the financial arrangements were properly handled.

According to investigators, an agreement with the Bahrain Football Association provided for a payment of $20,000 to Nepal. Police say the amount does not appear to have been received even two years after the match.

“The complaint alleges that the money was misappropriated,” the investigator said. “We are also verifying the details of all three ANFA bank accounts.”

The investigation also covers the purchase of jerseys and playing kits. Police allege that clothing from Kelme was bought directly rather than through a tender process. “We are studying the documents related to those purchases,” the investigator said.

Police are also examining the sale of ANFA’s tickets for the 2026 World Cup. Investigators say 330 tickets were allocated to ANFA and that tickets for the Portugal-Spain quarter-final were advertised on social media.

“The concern is that FIFA’s prescribed ticket-selling procedure was not followed,” another investigator said. Police say the tickets carried values ranging from $400 to $735 and are examining whether they were sold transparently.

ANFA vice-president Birat Jung Shahi said the association’s failure to follow its own rules and statutes had contributed to the present situation. “We had warned from the beginning that this could happen, but our colleagues were overconfident because they had the majority,” said Shahi. “Now we have reached this situation.”

Shahi said ANFA had handed investigators the files they requested and said the facts would become clear after the investigation. ANFA spokesperson Suresh Shah declined to comment, saying the matter has entered a legal process.

The police investigation comes at a particularly difficult time for Nepali football. FIFA suspended ANFA indefinitely on June 24, citing third-party interference in the association’s affairs. The suspension bars Nepal’s national and club teams from FIFA and AFC competitions and cuts ANFA off from FIFA and AFC funding and development programmes.

Last Thursday, ANFA general secretary Kiran Rai said the association was uncertain about what steps to take to address the problems facing Nepali football and called for a clear government direction.

With the FIFA suspension still in place and domestic football disrupted, the investigation will now put ANFA’s financial and administrative practices under further scrutiny. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Education and Sports Minister Sasmit Pokharel said high-level efforts were under way to have the suspension lifted.