Kathmandu (dpa) - The president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has denied allegations linking him to a bribery scandal, saying the 100,000 dollars in question were a personal loan, local media reported Sunday.
ANFA president Ganesh Thapa said that money he received from former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief, Mohamed bin Hammam, has already been paid back.
"It was completely personal", Thapa told Kantipur Television by telephone. "It was a personal loan and we have already paid it back."
Bin Hammam, 63, once a candidate to replace Sepp Blatter as the head of football's ruling body FIFA, was suspended from all organization posts in 2011 on allegations of bribery during the presidential election campaign.
The suspension has since been nullified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Bin Hammam is suspended by the AFC and FIFA is set to investigate the case as well through its new ethics committee.
Thapa said the money had been given to him as a personal loan by Bin Hammam, who he said was a close friend. He added that it had nothing to do with professional affairs.
He said the loan had been deposited to his son Gaurav Thapa's account in 2009. The payment was made in five instalments from Bin Hammam's account.
Gaurav Thapa is currently in England for the London Olympics, according to his father, and has been serving as an employee in the AFC since 2007.
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