The Patan High Court on Wednesday paved way for the All Nepal Football Association (Anfa) election on May 5 after it lifted the interim stay order to put off the March 28 poll.

A joint bench of chief justice Prakash Kumar Dhungana and justice Bishnu Prasad  Koirala had on March 22 issued the directives in response to the writ petition filed by Bhaktapur District Football Association (FA) president Gautam Sukhaju and Makawanpur FA vice president Manish Shrestha.

The duo had filed the case in the court claiming they were deprived of their rights to participate in the election of the football governing body after Anfa failed to hold the election in the districts owing to controversy over representatives.

Following the court’s stay order, Anfa held election of those districts—Makawanpur on April 6 and Bhaktapur of April 10. The FAs have already submitted names of their representatives for Anfa election. Anfa on April 20 had furnished a written reply to the High Court along with an application to vacate the writ petition.

In the verdict on Wednesday, the court has said: “The current scenario has changed from the time interim stay order was put into effect. The names of voters from those districts have also been finalised. So the stay order issued by the Court on March 22 has been annulled.”

On Sunday, the Anfa election committee had recommended May 5 as date for the Anfa general assembly on the condition that the interim stay order was lifted. The election was originally set for January 25 but has since been postponed four times on various pretext in the last four months.

Anfa president Narendra Shrestha welcomed the court decision and said that he the election would be held on the date recommended by the election committee. “The election process has already started after the court verdict. I want the see the election go smoothly,” said Shrestha who has also called both the presidential candidates former vice-president Karma Tsering Sherpa and senior vice-president Mani Kunwar for discussion.

Sherpa said that the decision of the court was a big relief. “We can now avoid any impending Fifa suspension if the election is held on time,” said Sherpa who is considered a strong favourite for the Anfa top post.  The international football governing body Fifa had twice and Asian Football Confederation have once directed Anfa to hold its election promptly.

President Shrestha and Sherpa, however, still feared roadblocks for the May 5 elections. “Some individuals still do not want to see the election go on smoothly and I have got information that some element are trying to bring out some new issue to defer the poll again,” said Sherpa without elaborating on the issue.

The general assembly of Anfa have 77 votes including one each from 45 district associations and one each from 14 ‘A’ division clubs. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ division clubs will have nine and five votes while four committees—players, coaches, referee and women commission will have one vote each.