Guglielmo Arena, the Swiss-born Italian football coach appointed as head coach of Nepal's men's national team in March, has mutually agreed to terminate his contract following FIFA's suspension of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). Arena, who took charge with ambitions of leading Nepal to their first SAFF Championship title, officially announced his departure on July 8 after a brief and challenging tenure marked by limited opportunities to train and compete.

Arena signed with Nepal on March 12 and was set for a one-year term, during which he planned to develop the national team. However, his tenure was heavily disrupted by administrative conflicts and organizational issues within Nepali football. A friendly match against Hong Kong, scheduled for late March, was canceled due to a dispute between ANFA and the National Sports Council (NSC) over stadium usage rights. Subsequently, Nepal played an AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against Laos, losing 0-1. After the match, Arena spent time abroad attending coaching programmes and returned to Nepal in June, only to find that he could not conduct training sessions with the team due to ongoing complications.

The situation worsened when FIFA suspended ANFA on June 24, citing persistent third-party interference in the association's affairs. The suspension barred Nepal from international football activities and cast uncertainty over domestic competitions, including the expected resumption of the ANFA National League and the Nepal Super League. Arena described the suspension as creating a "complete lack of visibility" for the team's future and making it impossible to realize the sporting project he had envisioned with the players.

In a statement, Arena expressed regret over not being able to fully implement his long-term plans and highlighted that his decision was not due to dissatisfaction with the players or the football culture in Nepal but was specifically a consequence of the organizational turmoil. He had briefly returned to Italy for a family event but had planned to come back to resume training before the end of July.

Arena is the latest foreign coach to leave Nepali football prematurely amid administrative issues. His predecessors include Belgium’s Patrick de Wilde, who resigned as head coach of the senior women’s team after just one month in July 2025, citing unresolved conflicts with football authorities, and Australia’s Matt Ross, who stepped down in October 2025 before completing his tenure with the men's team for undisclosed reasons.

Throughout his stay, Arena expressed frustration with the impact of the suspension and urged that Nepali football authorities and government officials adhere to FIFA's regulations in order to resolve the crisis swiftly. He publicly called for intervention by Nepal’s sports ministry and political leadership to lift the suspension and restore normalcy.

Nepal national team captain Rohit Chand underscored the severity of the situation, noting that the suspension has detrimentally affected players, coaches, referees, and other stakeholders. Both Arena and Chand voiced hope that the issues surrounding Nepali football governance would soon be resolved, allowing the sports community to return to regular training and competition.

Arena concluded by affirming his belief in the potential of Nepali football and expressing disappointment that he could not contribute more substantially to the development of the promising pool of talent during his short tenure.