There was uncertainty among hundreds of Nepali athletes—whether they could play in the 2026 Asian Games in Japan—until September 16, the deadline for the Olympic committees of the respective member countries to submit the number of athletes participating in the Asian main event.

The uncertainty persisted as the government and the Nepal Olympic Committee, led by Jeevan Ram Shrestha, were on opposite ends. While the government denied the legitimacy of Shrestha’s NOC, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said otherwise.

When the then government, on June 30, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, had sent a list of 31 sports under which Nepali athletes would compete at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, the OCA had replied: “You are not the eligible institution for it. The OCA accepted the list of 30 sports sent by the NOC.”

Both lists had 22 common names. The other nine in the ministry’s list were taekwondo, football, triathlon, gymnastics, fencing, shooting, handball, rowing and equestrian. In the NOC’s list, the eight other sports were archery, breaking, baseball, rafting, kurash, pentathlon, skateboard and climbing.

Assurance of budget

While the 30 sports recommended by the NOC were accepted for the 2026 Asian Games, which will be the 20th edition of the competition since the first one in India in 1951, there was still uncertainty about participation. It was because the NOC needed budget assurance from the government to take the participants to Japan and manage their lodging and food, among others.

After a budget was assured, the NOC would then recommend the number of athletes participating in the 30 registered sports under the financial ceiling. But as the government and the NOC were against one another, the budget assurance was not in sight.

Further, the government helped form an ad-hoc committee under the chairmanship of former NOC president Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, which too was not recognised by the IOC and the OCA.

Meanwhile, as the then government led by KP Sharma Oli, with Teju Lal Chaudhary as the minister for youth and sports, is no more, the NOC believes that their legitimacy, which has been accepted by their internationally and regionally governing bodies, will be supported by the interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki.

“Budget assurance is a must before sending the number of participants,” said Rajiv Shrestha, NOC’s general secretary. “We still have not received the assurance, but we are optimistic about the new government.”

Speaking to the Post, general-secretary Shrestha also informed that they were yet to have talks with the new government. “We had sent emails regularly to the National Sports Council,” he continued. “But it all fell on deaf ears.”

Request to add football and taekwondo

Football and taekwondo were not included when the NOC sent the list of 30 sports during the deadline for the ‘entry by sports’ of the sports on June 30. The major reason was the feud between the authorities.

However, as the then government fell, the federations of the two sports requested to be included in the Asiad. It is already too late, but the NOC informed us that they have requested it.

“Football, especially the women’s team, and taekwondo are two sports that have a high probability of winning medals in the Asian Games,” said general-secreary Shrestha. “We have requested the organisers to consider adding the two sports since we cannot let down the players who believe in themselves in winning medals for the country.”

Similarly, the NOC also got no response from the Nepal Athletics Association when asked for their participation. “But as Nepali runners have a high chance to clinch medals in long-distance marathon, we have registered two, one male and one female, for participation,” he added.

Of the 434 athletes in 32 sports, 239 are male and 195 are female. Previously, in the 2022 Asian Games in China, 253 Nepali athletes—128 male and 125 female—had participated in 29 sports. Of them, the women’s kabaddi team and karateka Arika Gurung were the only medallists winning a bronze and a silver, respectively.

“For now, we have only sent the number of participants,” Shrestha continued. “We will be coordinating with the sports associations regarding the names of the athletes who will be representing the country in the tournament.”

The 2026 Asian Games will take place from September 19 to October 4 around Aichi Prefecture, with Nagoya as the epicenter.