Himal Press 
Three Str Club's squad for the 2023 Martyr's Memorial 'A' Division League.
KATHMANDU: Three Star Club, one of Nepal’s most successful football teams and four-time champions of the Martyrs’ Memorial Men’s ‘A’ Division League, has been officially relegated from top-tier football, two years after the league in question concluded.
The All Nepal Football Association’s (ANFA) Appeals Committee issued a long-awaited ruling on a dispute dating back two years. The case dates back to Three Star’s final match of the league against Jawalakhel Youth Club on June 20, 203, in which it fielded two foreign players—Peter Segun and Ajay Martins—whose visas had already expired. Three Star won that match 1–0, which was sufficient to avoid relegation. The result meant the departmental side, Nepal APF Club, was relegated.
However, APF filed a formal complaint with ANFA, arguing that Three Star violated tournament, national and FIFA rules by fielding ineligible players. Although ANFA’s Disciplinary Committee confirmed that players were indeed ineligible, it imposed only a fine and kept the match result unchanged.
Both Three Star and APF appealed against the decision. The Appeals Committee has now decided that, as per the rules, Three Star must forfeit that match 3–0. The decision means Three Star’s win over Jawalakhel is now recorded as a loss, which dropped it below the relegation line.
Why was the decision delayed?
The issue dragged on because ANFA itself had registered those players in FIFA Connect despite knowing their visas had expired.
FIFA Connect is a platform developed by FIFA to help member associations (MAs) register and manage football stakeholders—players, coaches and referees, etc—in a standardized and systematic way. FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) mandate that all professional players must be registered with their respective national association and, by extension, within the FIFA Connect system, to be eligible to play in organized football.
A former ANFA official, entrusted to handle FIFA Connect, told Nepali language sports news portal Kheladi.com that he had flagged the visa issue but was ordered by leadership to register the players anyway. “They (Three Star) were playing those players, claiming that they had three-month visas. When the visas were about to expire, I informed both the club and ANFA in time. After the three-month visa period ended, I said they couldn’t be fielded, so they were left out of one match,” Khatri told the news portal. “Later, under orders from above, I registered them in FIFA Connect. Even though I said it wasn’t allowed, they said it didn’t matter and that they would sort it out if anything happened—so I went ahead and registered them.”
