The Nepal Olympic Committee conducted its 21st Annual General Assembly at a hotel in Kathmandu on Monday. The ceremony, however, saw a conspicuous absence of representatives from state authorities.

The two major stakeholders for the NOC are the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. But no official from those authorities was present in the NOC’s major programme, where they revealed their expenditure of the fiscal year 2024/25 alongside the expected budget and plans and programmes for 2026.

Speaking before the closed session of the General Assembly began, NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha did not hold back on the issue between the organisation and the government.

Shrestha especially took a swipe at former Minister for Youth and Sports Teju Lal Chaudhary, refusing to even take his name.

“The NOC fell victim to unnecessary intervention from the former Minister for Youth and Sports, whose name I do not want to take because I need to gargle after that,” Shrestha said. “The minister even amended the laws to destroy the NOC. We hope that the previous government’s missteps are corrected by the new government formed for good governance.”

Shrestha added that the NOC has full confidence in the newly elected Minister for Youth and Sports Bablu Gupta. “We hope that the new minister will help Nepal’s Olympic movement return to the right path,” he said.

Similarly, recalling that NSC’s 124th board meeting, on December 24, decided that Nepal will participate in the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, Shrestha questioned, “The government said they will participate. But who will do the work for it?”

The NOC is the sole body through which the games and athletes participating in the Asian Games are forwarded to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). However, the NOC led by Shrestha, which has been accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the OCA but was deemed illegal by the previous government, is yet to be accepted by the new government and allow them to use their office in Satdobato.

“The NOC Building was not built by the government. It was constructed by the IOC. But it has been padlocked, and we are not allowed to work from our office,” Shrestha said. “We hope it will be opened for us soon.”

The former Minister for Youth and Sports Chaudhary had, though behind the curtain, aided in the creation of an ad-hoc committee against the NOC led by Shrestha, who had amended the NOC Statute allowing the President to run for three terms.

The Shrestha-led NOC had been regularly stressing that Nepal’s participation in the upcoming Asian Games would be in ‘jeopardy’ if they were not allowed to work and supported by the state.

The Master Plan for the 2026 Asian Games states that the organisers will cooperate with the persons in charge of the respective National Olympic Committee of a country in the preparation phase to build networks, provide information, and support with any issues. And for the OCA, Jeevan Ram Shrestha and Rajiv Shrestha, NOC’s secretary general, are the persons in charge of the Nepal Olympic Committee.

“If the state’s unnecessary interference continues and the NOC gets suspended, it will create a negative image of Nepali sports at the global level,” Shrestha said. “The NOC is ready to be as flexible as required to solve the prevailing problems because sports should be on the ground, not at courts.”

Observers say that it’s imperative the NOC-related dispute be resolved soon.

“We hope that the dispute related to NOC will be solved soon because it will only damage the Nepali sports sector further,” Niranjan Adhikari, president of Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF), said.

Deepak Thapa, vice president of the Nepal National and International Players Association (NNIPA), also suggested that the stakeholders stop unnecessary politicking and focus on developing Nepali sports further. “It is a great step by the NOC to provide scholarships for athletes participating in the Asian Games, LA28 and Youth Olympics,” Thapa said. “But they should also work on creating a better environment for athletes.”

Four big events for 2026

The 21st Annual General Assembly of the NOC stated that there are four major sporting events for Nepal in 2026, including the Asian Games.

The other three major games include the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games in Saudi Arabia, the Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, and the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.

“We are aiming to not only limit Nepal to participation at big events,” said Secretary General Shrestha. “We will aim for medals by helping athletes prepare well and challenge the world.”

Similarly, the General Assembly also announced local programmes like the Olympic Solidarity Course, Fun Run, Lumbini Peace Marathon, Sports Congress, Talent Hunt and NOC Awards.

The formation of a committee on the prevention of manipulation in sports was also proposed at the General Assembly. As per the NOC, the committee will be led by former player and retired Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Kiran Bajracharya.

NOC’s budget and expenditure

The NOC had a revenue of Rs53.286 million in the fiscal year 2024/25. As revealed in the report at the General Assembly, the expenditure of the period was Rs54.479 million.

Similarly, the NOC has estimated a budget of Rs79.146 million for 2026. Of that, Rs3.3 million is estimated from sponsors (Chinese Embassy, NIMB and others), Rs160,000 from miscellaneous income (Bank) and Rs160,000 from membership fees from 32 national sports associations. Other than that, the IOC and the OCA will provide funds under different topics.

The NOC stated that it expects an expenditure of Rs79.094 million under the headings of administrative expenses, programme expenditure, designated programmes and association support.