January 13, 2026 marked 947 days of no domestic football in Nepal. This count ends on Wednesday, as the National League, being played between 17 teams, kicks off at 11am with Kakre Bihar FC facing Friends’ Club Kopundole in the tournament opener at the ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur.

Kakre Bihar are one of the four teams—alongside Laligurans Association Club, Chitlang FC and Nawa Jana Jagriti Club—progressing to the National League from the President League. Friends’ Club is one of the 13 A-Division clubs participating in the tournament.

Format-wise, the National League should have 10 teams, of which four come from the President League, and six are the top-placed teams from the Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League.

The number rose to 17 this time, as the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) allowed all 14 A-Division clubs to participate, following pressure from clubs and players for not organising the top-tier league regularly. Only one of the 14 A-Division clubs—the Himalayan Sherpa—did not participate.

Further, the ANFA decided to term the National League as the top-tier league of this season. And the winner of the National League will play in the AFC Champions League, the tournament Nepal missed in the 2025-26 season due to no ‘A’ Division League. And as per the participating teams in the National League, they are eying the AFC slot rather than the Rs5 million prize as champions.

“We want to participate in the AFC tournament again,” said Ramesh Dangal, coach of Church Boys United, during the pre-tournament conference at the ANFA Complex on Tuesday. “We have a strong team for that.”

Church Boys United raised eyebrows after winning the C, B and A Divisions regularly in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. After winning the ‘A’ Division League in 2023, they had qualified for the AFC Challenge League Preliminary Stage, where they hosted Bhutan’s Paro FC, which included Japan’s Keisuke Honda, at Dasharath Stadium in August 2024.

Nonetheless, other teams are not ready to give the spot to CBU that easily.

Big intent, many shortcomings

Players from Africa, Europe and Asia are being brought by the clubs for the National League. The reason: to strengthen their squad. However, one question remains: how strong a squad will foreign players make?

New Road Team have inducted three foreigners—including two Japanese and one from Africa, while Manang Marsyangdi Club have also bought three overseas players already.

Regarding foreign players in other teams, Church Boys United, Laligurans and Jawalakhel Youth Club also have three each already. Similarly, Shree Bhagawati Club have two and Satdobato Youth Club have fixed one.

Planning Boyz United, who were promoted to the top-tier as the champions of the ‘B’ Division League in May last year, said they were in the process of bringing in foreigners, while Sankata FC said they would search for foreigners in the positions they find needy after a couple of matches.

Regarding the three departmental clubs—Nepal Police Club (NPC), Tribhuvan Army Football Club (TAFC) and Armed Police Force Club (APF)—they are unlikely to induct foreign faces. Friends’ Club’s skipper Rupesh KC also ruled out the club’s plan to bring players from abroad.

While some teams have financial and administrative reasons not to bring players from other countries, all the clubs struggle to build their teams.

“Of late, there are not enough players in Nepal to select from,” said Ram Wajee, skipper of the NPC, citing the trend of Nepali players going abroad due to the lack of regular league at home. “We have struggled for this reason.”

Still, there is a positive to take from players leaving the country: emerging talents will get exposure. Many clubs have signed junior players and prioritised academy players for the National League.

But there is a plus point for the NPC and their two departmental counterparts (APF and TAFC) with regular training at home ground, an opportunity that the majority of A-Division clubs lack.

“As a departmental side, we are regularly in training,” said TAFC captain George Prince Karki. “We also have internal tournaments, and we also got the chance to play in the Durand Cup in India. So it feels we are better prepared than other clubs.”

The four clubs who qualified from the President League are in form as they played the tournament as recently as November last year. And they have also got high dreams in the National League.

“We are a local club, but we have prepared well for this tournament,” said Kiran Shrestha, head coach of Laligurans, the champions of the President League. “We have brought foreign players and have local players who have played in the top-level club football scene and under-age national teams. If you do well, there are always chances in football.”

Planning and Shree Bhagawati were also active in the second-tier league until May 2025. But other clubs have been either dormant or occasionally active in mofussil tournaments ever since the 2023 ‘A’ Division League.

“Fitness is a major issue since the players have not been able to play regular football,” said Bishal Shrestha, captain of Machhindra FC, after arriving at the pre-tournament conference as soon as their friendly match against Planning Boyz concluded at the ANFA Complex’s ground.

Machhindra’s head coach Prabesh Katuwal argued that the team did not have time to train together for a sufficient amount of time.

Ditto the majority of the A-Division clubs.

“We were hoping for the ‘A’ Division League, but still we got a platform to play in the form of the National League,” said Shrestha, who was also part of the players’ protest in November last year. “But ANFA has promised the ‘A’ Division League after this, and we are hopeful.”

Nevertheless, despite the National League, which will be played in a single-round robin format, having more teams than the ‘A’ Division League, the shortcomings suggest that the level of football might not be at its best.

Still, the resurrection of domestic football has given Nepali football fans a reason to take out old jerseys of their favourite clubs from the boxes. And it is also believed that the league will give the national team selectors a platform to scout players for the national team.

“It is an opportunity to show my talent and get in the sights for the national team,” said Fagu Ram Tharu, Planning Boyz’s captain and 2024-25 ‘B’ Division League’s top scorer. “To don the national jersey is always the biggest dream for domestic players like me.”