Nepal caretaker coach Pradip Humagain on Sunday called up 40 players for the upcoming international friendly football match against Bangladesh including 10 players who were expelled by head coach Abdullah Almutairi in April.

Captain and goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu, vice-captain Rohit Chand, Sujal Shrestha, Bishal Shrestha, Bishal Rai, Anjan Bista, Ananta Tamang, Tej Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi and Bimal Gharti Magar all have made comebacks in the national squad.

Suman Lama, however, has been left out.

Almutairi had allegedly forced the ten senior players—except captain Limbu—to leave the closed camp of the AFC Asian Cup Group ‘A’ Qualifiers late in April following a dispute over accommodation arrangements.

The head coach had then dropped agitating the players out of the final squad and had travelled to Kuwait, where Nepal capitulated to 2-0 defeat against Jordan, 4-1 against hosts Kuwait and 7-0 against Indonesia.

Limbu, who was in the Maldives playing Dhivehi Premier League when the dressing room tussle broke out, was left out for supporting his teammates.

A three-member probe committee formed to investigate the coach-player row had already recommended the All Nepal Football Association to remove Almutairi, who has not returned to Nepal from his home country after the Qualifiers.

The country’s football governing body, however, has yet to take any concrete action against Almutairi, who is still under a contract. Sent under grant by Qatar Football Association, Almutairi’s deal will not expire until December 2023.

Despite inaction from ANFA, the appointment of former Three Star Club and Lalitpur City coach as the caretaker coach is a clear message that the supreme football body is looking forward to restoring balance in the national team.

Humagain, who lives in the United States, will arrive in Nepal on Wednesday for the Bangladesh friendly scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on September 27.