KATHMANDU: Minister for Youth and Sports Maheshwor Jung Gahatraj has stressed the need for the country’s administrative sector to understand, internalize and prioritize importance of sports for its development.

Sports should be linked with tourism for the prosperity of the country, he emphasized while inaugurating the 21st annual general assembly to pick a new leadership of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) in Kathmandu on Monday.

He expressed the hope that the ANFA election today would add newness in the Nepali football sector.

A total of 104 representatives from 48 districts under the ANFA, 14 ‘A’ Division, 11 ‘B’ Division, nine ‘C’ Division, four clubs selected for women association and national league and including referees, coaches and players have participated in the assembly.

ANFA’s sitting president Karma Tsering Sherpa, senior vice president Pankaj Bikram Nembang and former chairperson of the Friends Club Rajib Paudyal are vying for leading the new leadership.

The ANFA general assembly will elect a 15-member new leadership including a president, a senior vice president and four vice presidents including two women.

So far, the election committee has received registration of two candidacies for a senior vice president, four for vice president, five for women member and 36 for member, it has been said.