The All Nepal Football Association has come under scrutiny over a dispute between Three Star Club and Armed Police Force Club after intervention from the Patan High Court.

On February 25, the court quashed the decision by the Disciplinary Committee and Appeal Committee—two of ANFA’s three judicial bodies—to relegate Three Star Club to the B Division.

The full verdict of the decision was released on Tuesday. Three Star then reached ANFA on Wednesday and demanded that the club be included as a voter in the upcoming ANFA election as one of the 14 A Division clubs.

The dispute dates back to the final day of the 2023 Martyr’s Memorial A Division League and a protest that would trigger a prolonged legal battle between the two clubs.

Below, the Post looks at how the incident unfolded.

How Three Star got relegated

Three Star Club had never been relegated from the top-tier league since their debut in the Martyr’s Memorial A Division League in 1982. They have won the league four times. The 2023 season, however, was not their best. They barely survived relegation during that season.

In what was the last game of the season, on June 10, 2023, Three Star needed a win over Jawalakhel Youth Club to add three points and survive relegation. And when the game concluded with Three Star winning 1-0, thanks to Bikram Lama scoring from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute, they retained their A Division status.

But a day later, the Armed Police Force (APF) Club, which had been relegated alongside last-placed FC Khumaltar, filed a complaint against Three Star at the Disciplinary Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee is one of ANFA’s three judicial bodies. The other two are Ethics Committee and Appeal Committee.

Disciplinary Committee can take actions against members, officials, players, match and players’ agents if they violate ANFA’s Statute and Disciplinary Code. And if anyone is dissatisfied with the Disciplinary Committee’s decision, they can take the matter to the Appeal Committee.

In its protest at the Disciplinary Committee, APF had claimed that two of the Three Star Club’s foreign players—Peter Segun and Ajayi Martins Kayode—did not have valid visas and labour permits when they were fielded against Jawalakhel.

The Disciplinary Committee decided on the protest by APF around six months later, on December 31, 2023. Three Star were fined Rs300,000 while the two players had to pay Rs50,000 each.

However, APF were not satisfied. On February 27, 2024, APF appealed against the decision at the Appeal Committee, stating that fines were not sufficient. The departmental side claimed that Three Star’s points in the game against Jawalakhel should be deducted under the FIFA Disciplinary Code and the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code.

A year and three months later, the Appeal Committee, on June 17, 2025, turned Three Star’s 1-0 win over Jawalakhel to a 0-3 loss. As a result, Three Star were relegated and APF, based on points, survived.

The decision came as a big blow for Three Star, one of Nepal’s most loved clubs. On July 2, 2025, Three Star filed a writ petition at the Patan High Court asking to scrap the ANFA’s decisions.

Three Star move Patan High Court

Three Star’s writ petition stated that the decision from ANFA’s Appeal Committee denied them participation in the ANFA U16 Youth League, a tournament between youth teams of A Division clubs, which was beginning on July 4, 2025.

On June 18, 2025, ANFA and Three Star reached an agreement to allow the latter to participate in the U16 League. Three Star had prepared a team, trained them and were ready to participate. However, after the Appeal Committee’s decision led to Three Star’s relegation, ANFA, on June 24 last year, informed that Three Star are ineligible to participate in the U16 League. They were replaced by APF.

And with two days remaining for the U16 League to kick off, Three Star reached the Patan High Court, requesting to scrap the decisions and reinstate their A Division status.

How did the court react?

The court did not issue any order at first. “It was not appropriate to issue an interim order as demanded in the petition that would affect the previously scheduled match of July 4, 2025,” reads the full verdict of the Court, which was revealed on Tuesday.

The court also stressed that it needed to first confirm whether or not it could interfere in this matter as Article 74(5) of the ANFA Statute states, “The decisions pronounced by the Appeal Committee may only be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.”

Three Star did not appeal to CAS, but the Patan High Court stating that the court, as per Article 144 of the Constitution of Nepal, has the power to issue necessary and appropriate orders “for the enforcement of any other legal right for which no other remedy has been provided or for which the remedy even though provided appears to be inadequate or ineffective or for the settlement of any legal question involved in any dispute of public interest or concern.”

The court also looked at whether ANFA was a public organisation or not. As per the court, “…anybody over which the government has financial control, functional control, administrative control, and whose monopoly status is protected by the state should be considered a public body.”

And as ANFA receives financial benefits from the Government of Nepal for managing and promoting the game of football and forms the national football teams of Nepal, the court determined it to be a public body.

“In this situation, since it must be considered a public body, it is seen that orders for inquiry and directives can be issued against this association in the context of protecting fundamental rights and freedoms,” reads the verdict.

What was the court order?

The court states that it found that ANFA did not give Three Star the proper opportunity to defend itself.

The verdict states that Three Star were not properly informed of the protest and given an adequate chance to present a defence, while the decision-making process did not clearly consider the evidence.

“…since it is clearly seen that the applicant was not provided an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the principle of natural justice,” the verdict states. “So, the Disciplinary Committee’s decision to fine the club and the players, alongside the Appeal Committee’s decision to change the points of the applicant club, has been annulled.”

The court has clarified that ANFA committees should now rehear the protest by APF against Three Star. “ANFA is now instructed to notify the applicant of the protest of APF, allow them to defend their rights, and make a fresh decision,” reads the verdict.

‘APF’s protest is illegitimate’

Three Star have been claiming that the protest by APF was illegitimate.

Speaking to the Post after the court’s order in February, Jaya Krishna Shrestha, one of Three Star’s vice presidents, said that APF were not eligible to protest.

Rule 28—Protest—of the Competition Regulation states that only the opponent can file a protest against the other, and that too within two hours of the conclusion of the respective match.

“The Competition Regulation of the Martyr’s Memorial A Division League 2023 does not allow an uninvolved club to file a protest in a match between two other clubs,” Shrestha said. “The protest by APF should have been scrapped as it was also registered after the deadline.”

ANFA seeks legal consultation

ANFA did not speak on the issue of Three Star and APF after news circulated that the Patan High Court ordered in favour of Three Star. The reason: ANFA had not received any formal information from the court. But the governing body of Nepali football had received it by Wednesday.

When the Post inquired about ANFA’s further steps on the issue, ANFA spokesperson Suresh Shah said they were seeking legal consultation.

“We have forwarded the verdict to our legal advisor for review,” Shah told the Post. “We will move forward as per the advice we will receive.”

It is a serious issue for ANFA as the reinstatement of Three Star as an A Division club would also put the ongoing National League in jeopardy since APF, who are participating as one of the 14 A Division Clubs, would be ineligible. Further, APF are currently at the top of the points table and closing in on lifting the title.