Ritesh Thapa ( ne, रितेश थापा; born 2 April 1986) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

from

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. He made his first appearance for the

Nepal national football team The Nepal national football team ( ne, नेपाल राष्ट्रिय फुटबल टोली) represents Nepal in International men's football, and is governed by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). A member of the As ...

in 2003. He played for

Nepal Police Club Nepal Police Club (formerly known as Mahendra Police Club) is a sports club owned and managed by Nepal Police. The club competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepali club football. History Established in 1952 a ...

Club career

Thapa was born in

Itahari Itahari ( ne, ईटहरी) is a sub-metropolitan city in the Sunsari District of Province No. 1 of Nepal. Itahari city is business hub of eastern Nepal. It is the second most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar. Situated at a dist ...

, Nepal. Thapa started his career with the

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Patan, Lalitpur, that competes in the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepalese football. The club was previously known as the ''Laxmi Bank ...

, but joined the

four years later in 2004. He has won many achievements with the Nepali Police Club, including a runner's up medal at the

2007 AFC President's Cup The 2007 AFC President's Cup was the third edition of the AFC President's Cup, a competition for Association football, football clubs in countries categorized as "emerging nations" by the Asian Football Confederation. The eight teams that competed ...

. He has also won the

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए- डिभिजन लिग; formerly known as the Kathmandu League Championship) is the top divisions of football in Nepal. Contested by 12 to 16 clubs, it operat ...

four times with the Nepali Police Club.

International career

Thapa made his debut for Nepal on September 29, 2003 although it was a dark day in his country's football history. Nepal were playing

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in the

2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification The qualification process for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition began in March 2003. Out of the 45 AFC members, only Cambodia and the Philippines failed to enter for the tournament. Both China, the hosts and Japan, the reigning champi ...

and lost by a record 16-0 scoreline. Thapa came on as a half time substitute for goalkeeper Ujjwal Manadhar in the game. Thapa played two games at the

2012 Nehru Cup The 2012 Nehru Cup was the 15th edition of the Nehru Cup and 3rd Nehru Cup since it was revived in 2007. It was held from 22 August to 2 September. The tournament was hosted in New Delhi, India. A total of 5 teams participated in the tournamen ...

, picking up one yellow card. He has made twelve appearances for his country so far.

Honours

AFC President's Cup The AFC President's Cup was an annual international association football competition between domestic clubs sides run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held between 2005 and 2014. The competition targeted emerging football nations, and wa ...

**Runners-up:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

**Winner: 2006–07,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 2011, 2011–12 **Runners-up: 2004–05

Playing style

Thapa is known as a hardworking and dependable player in the squad and always has a positive attitude. He however lacks concentration during games.

Personal life

Thapa is married.

Match fixing allegations

On 14 October 2015 Thapa, along with teammates Sagar Thapa, Sandip Rai,

Bikash Singh Chhetri Bikash Singh Chhetri ( ne, बिकास सिंह क्षेत्री; born 19 February 1992) is a footballer from Nepal. He played for Nepal national football team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification and various other tournamen ...

, and former

coach Anjan KC were arrested by the

Nepal Police Nepal Police is the national and primary law enforcement agency of Nepal. It is primarily responsible for maintaining law and order, prevention of crime and crime investigation within the jurisdiction determined by the Constitution of Nepal. ...

on suspicion that the group was responsible for match-fixing at the domestic and international level. On 19 October 2015 Rai and the four others were banned by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

References

1986 births Living people People from Sunsari District Nepalese footballers Nepal international footballers Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople involved in betting scandals {{Nepal-footy-bio-stub