The All Nepal Football Association (Anfa) is likely to relieve national football team coach Gyotoku Koji of his duties after the Japanese national got entangled into visa issues that coupled with country’s poor showing in the ongoing 18th Asian Games.

Koji was barred from entering the country by the Department of Immigration until the end of this year after he was found to have been in the country without work permit and even his tourist visa had expired in July. Koji did not return with the Nepal’s U-23 team that arrived in Kathmandu on Monday after competing in Asian Games.

Koji is currently in Thailand negotiating with the Anfa for visa extension. His contract with Anfa is due to expire in November and was supposed to look after the team for Saff Championship to be held in Bangladesh from September 4-15. “We are in internal discussion if he will continue as the coach of national team or not,” Anfa general secretary Indra Man Tuladhar told the Post.

“We will take the decision about Koji’s future within next two days,” he said adding that if the Anfa decides to continue with him until Saff Championship he will join the team in Dhaka from Bangkok.

He, however, hinted that there were slim chances Koji would be retained owing to Nepal’s poor outcome of the group stage matches of the Asian Games. Nepal had lost all three matches of Group ‘D’ and finished at the bottom of four-team table. They had gone 1-0 against Japan, 2-0 against Vietnam and faced a shock 2-1 defeat to Pakistan.

“The defeat against Pakistan was a big shock to Nepal and that led us to rethink about his future with the national team,” Tuladhar said. Koji, who led the team to AFC Solidarity Cup title in November 2016, was appointed the head coach of Nepal in March, 2016 and was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the national team at least until Saff Championship.