‘No dispute, I’m here to stay’

KATHMANDU, JUL 01 - The controversy surrounding the appointment of National Sports Council’s (NSC) new Member Secretary Keshab Bista is seemingly heading towards an end after the CPN-UML leadership reportedly agreeing to stick with Sports 

Minister Purushottam Poudel’s decision.

On June 25, Poudel appointed Bista as chief of the country’s apex body of sports. The appointment of Bista, who is under a one-year suspension for allegedly helping Nepali athletes defect during Asian Games in South Korea last year, triggered dispute between the UML top brass. Following the controversial hiring, party Chairman KP Sharma Oli put pressure on Youth and Sports Minister Purushottam Poudel either to roll back the decision or face consequences.

But Poudel, backed by senior UML leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, remained adamant over his decision.  Bista, on the other hand, claimed everything had been sorted out in the party and that he would lead the Nepali sports for the next four years.

“The news of my appointment was blown out of proportion,” Bista told a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s all standard practice in any political party where the leaders hold discussion over big decisions. There was no rift in UML,” Bista added, with council’s vice-president Lama Tendi Sherpa, close to UML chief Oli, on hand.

The NSC boss reiterated that his four-year tenure will be dispute-less and equally transparent. “We will be committed in solving all the issues that have been dogging Nepali sports. Under our leadership, Nepali sports will go through a golden period.

Bista added his first task would be to hold the seventh National Games this year. “We have not been able to host the Games although it was supposed to take place two years ago. We will definitely host the Games in the supposed venue this year,” informed Bista.

The Member Secretary, who later revealed that he had called on the press meet to clear out the confusion surrounding his appointment, said his team will work out to come up with further plans. “We have to leave these controversies behind now. Our team will soon work together in coming with a master plan in the development of sports.”