Guglielmo Arena arrived in Nepal with a resume that had taken him across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Swiss-born Italian coach, who also goes by the name Gugliermo but prefers his nickname Guli, accepted the challenge of leading Nepal’s men’s national team with the ambition of guiding the Gorkhalis to their maiden SAFF Championship title.

But Guli, who signed the deal as Nepal’s head coach on March 12, announced on Tuesday that he had mutually agreed with the All Nepal Football Association to terminate his contract following FIFA’s suspension of Nepali football. ANFA, however, has not revealed the resignation yet.

Guli has coached clubs in the top divisions of Burkina Faso, Morocco, Algeria, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman and the UAE. And he had achieved impressive results during his stints across the globe.

He was also the head coach of the senior men’s team of Laos in 2023 and was with MAS Fès in the 2024-25 season of Botola Pro, the top division of Morocco, the nation which is facing France in the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday. MAS Fès won the title of the 2025-26 season.

Despite being able to earn more from match-day allowances elsewhere than his monthly salary as Nepal’s head coach, Guli chose to take on the challenge of leading the Gorkhalis, believing success with Nepal would be one of the biggest achievements of his coaching career.

“I decided to come to Nepal as I knew Nepal have very good quality players,” Guli said during his first press conference as the head coach of Nepal on March 13. “I also found the challenge—to win the SAFF Championship—interesting.”

Guli had a year to prove himself with the team. He had started training as Nepal was hosting Hong Kong for a friendly on March 26, after which the Gorkhalis would travel to Laos for their last match of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on March 31.

However, the friendly was cancelled due to the tussle between ANFA and the National Sports Council. It was said that the Council did not allow ANFA to use Dasharath Stadium for the fixture.

Guli and his men then travelled to Laos and lost 0-1. After that, he stayed abroad—in Hungary and Italy—for a while as he was engaged in several football-related programmes. He returned to Nepal in June but could not train a single day with his players.

“You can achieve nothing in football if you are not training regularly,” Guli told the Post over a coffee last month. “And I have not been able to train my players since the game with Laos.”

Guli said that he expected the players to be busy with the ball after returning from Laos, as the ANFA National League was expected to resume and the Nepal Super League was announced after that. But the National League, which was postponed on March 19 due to visa issues of foreign players, could not resume. The organisation of NSL is also uncertain after ANFA was suspended indefinitely by FIFA on June 24.

“We also missed the football tournament in the Maldives,” he shared.

Further, Guli started getting more and more concerned about his future with Nepal after ANFA was suspended by the NSC on March 25. “There is already less football in the country,” Guli shared previously. “And then there are these unnecessary conflicts between the two organisations [ANFA and NSC] with the same aim of developing Nepali sports.”

Guli did not want his previous statements to be mentioned as he believed that Nepali football would soon return to normalcy. That optimism, however, gradually faded away as the uncertainty surrounding Nepali football dragged on.

Guli insists that his decision to leave was not driven by disappointment with Nepal’s players or football culture, but by the uncertainty created after FIFA suspended ANFA.

“After careful consideration, I have mutually agreed with the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) to terminate my contract as Head Coach of the Nepal Men’s National Team,” he wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “This difficult decision follows the recent FIFA suspension of ANFA, which unfortunately created a complete lack of visibility for the short and medium term and made it impossible to continue developing the sporting project we had started.”

He has stated that he also regrets “not having had the opportunity to fully implement the sporting vision and long-term project that we had prepared together.”

Guli had left for his hometown in Italy last week to attend a family function. He had left with the expectation of returning to Nepal before the end of July and resuming training with the national team.

“I have to be there in Italy for a Catholic ritual for my friend’s son,” a dejected Guli had told the Post around two weeks ago, shortly after learning of FIFA’s decision to suspend ANFA. “I then plan to return before the end of July and start training.”

ANFA was suspended by FIFA on June 24, citing consistent third-party interference. And since the suspension will not likely be lifted any time soon based on how the authorities are taking the issue further, Guli decided not to waste his time.

“I did not want this. I am very sad about the decision,” Guli told the Post over a WhatsApp call on Wednesday morning. “But with ANFA suspended and no indication of the issue being resolved anytime soon, I talked with my family and decided to part ways with a heavy heart.”

Guli’s exit comes in the footsteps of the former foreign head coaches—Belgium’s Patrick de Wilde and Australia’s Matt Ross—of Nepali football.

De Wilde, who was appointed the head coach of the senior women’s team, resigned in July last year after working with the team for a month. De Wilde had shared a serious dissatisfaction with Nepali football authorities and the way they interfered with the development of football. Ross, on the other hand, had joined the senior men’s team in March 2025 and resigned in October 2025 without completing his one-year tenure. The reason behind Ross’ resignation is yet unknown.

Guli had succeeded Ross as the head coach.

“I’m very sad because we didn’t get the opportunity to train,” Guli told the Post. “The players in Nepal need to train. Women’s, men’s and young players need to train. Without training, football is nothing. So, it’s for that. I’m very, very sad about that.”

Guli also shared disappointment with how some former players were involved in the recent problems around Nepali football. He suggests Nepal follow the rules of football and its governing bodies seriously.

“If we want to work in the football industry, you have to understand how it works,” he said. “And how does the football industry work? It works when you follow the rules of FIFA. In the case of Nepal, they should follow the rules of AFC as Nepal is in Asia.”

Meanwhile, Guli argues that the Nepali government, ministers and other stakeholders could work towards ending the FIFA suspension soon.

As he spent his days in the hotel, its gym and the eateries of the Kathmandu Valley, Guli had expressed his desire to meet the Minister for Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel when he was in Nepal.

“I wanted to ask why the Nepali government was not active in removing FIFA’s suspension by abiding by FIFA’s directives,” Guli had told the Post multiple times in the last one-month period. “I believe that the minister or the prime minister could have intervened and ensured that football continued in this beautiful country.”

Guli enjoyed Kathmandu’s scenic environment and food a lot, he said. “It was only football for which I came here,” he added. “And it was what I could not enjoy.”

FIFA’s suspension has taken Nepali football to its all-time low, national player Rohit Chand told the Post on Wednesday. “It has affected hundreds of players as well as other manpower—referees and coaches—associated with the sport,” Chand said. “We hope this issue gets resolved soon so that we can return to the ground.”

Guli said he hopes Nepali football will return to normalcy soon.

“I hope the solution will come soon for the fans, for players, for coaches, for everybody in Nepal,” he said. “Nepal can achieve great things in football.”

Guli added, “I saw the promise, but I am disappointed for not being able to help these promising players get better.”