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| Chitrakar with Eze Collins (left) and Daniel Baroni (right) |
It has been a great few weeks for Nabin Chitrakar. In the
span of less than a month he orchestrated the one million Rupee sponsorship
deal between NMB Bank and Machhindra FC, engineered Rohit Chand’s historic move
to Indonesian club side PSPS Pekanbaru and has helped over a dozen foreign
players settle into Nepali club sides for the Martyrs League ‘A’ Division.
In Nepal’s football circles Chitrakar’s mobile number is
quickly becoming a must have. His slew of contacts, outgoing personality and negotiation
skills is slowly garnering him the reputation of Nepal’s Jerry Maguire.
“I’m an accidental agent,” says the 40-year-old resident of
Basantapur.
Chitrakar, the director at Muktinath De Cargo, a prominent
export/import cargo company based in Thamel, was asked to join Machhindra FC as
an adviser to the Executive Committee six years ago. Soon he found himself not
just exporting and importing cargo, but also football players and coaches.
“The burden of finding foreign players for the club was put
on my shoulders,” he claims. “That forced me to quickly make contacts with
players and agents around the globe and also exposed me to the business side of
football.”
Chitrakar has been a pioneer ever since his association with
Machhindra FC. He helped land Nepal’s first ever foreign coach at a club side
when MFC roped in Nigerian Tope Fuja to manage their team. He later brought the
first Brazilian player to Nepal in Daniel Baroni. Through his international
contacts he has also helped send talent the other way when arranging a trial
for Santosh Shauhukhala at Indonesian powerhouse side Sriwijaya FC.
A part-time career as a sports agent has not always been
comfortable for Chitrakar. Baroni struggled during his single season in Nepal
and several African players brought in by Chitrakar found glory not at
Machhindra but for rival clubs.
“What people fail to understand is that environment plays a
big factor for players. Baroni was playing in the top leagues in Malaysia and
Indonesia and could not adjust to the awful pitch at Dasarath Rangashala,” defends
Chitrakar.
As for the African players that went to other clubs, he
argues that Machhindra was too slow to make a decision. “The players had bills
to pay and family to support so I helped them find other clubs. Unfortunately,
some of them turned out to be a lot better than the ones Machhindra eventually
settled on.”
Another sensitive issue for Chitrakar is money. Seeking
commissions and remunerations is still frowned upon in the close-knit world of
Nepali football.
Chitrakar asserts that he has not asked for payment on most
of the deals he has put together, though he does plan on charging fees going
forward.
“People don’t understand how much work it takes to negotiate
a deal. They think things get done with just a single thirty-second phone
call,” explains Chitrakar. “When there is a lack of compensation it leads to a
lack of professionalism and corruption and that is what Nepali football is
really struggling with these days.”
The upsides however have far outweighed the downsides of
being a sports agent. Rohit Chand’s signing with Indonesian Super League side
PSPS Pekanbaru might be a seminal moment in Nepali soccer.
“This is the first time a Nepal National Team player has
played for a top-flight club outside of South Asia,” Chitrakar says with pride.
“It will really help highlight Nepali football across Asia and hopefully also
inspire a new generation of Nepali players.”
Already numerous Indonesian and Asian football outlets have
featured posts and articles about Rohit’s historic signing.
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| Chitrakar (far right) at NMB Bank MFC press conference |
Chitrakar is also very enthusiastic about the sponsorship
deal he helped put together between NMB Bank and Machhindra FC. He says it is a
groundbreaking sponsorship because it is much more marketing driven than an
exercise in Corporates Social Responsibility (CSR).
“What I love about the NMB Bank sponsorship is that they
really want to use football as a platform to create brand awareness for their
company. This is much more than a just donation to a local club,” Chitrakar
explains. “Furthermore, they are using the sponsorship as a ‘B2E’ (Business to
Employee) tool to help create unity and spirit within their corporation.”
The last few NMB Bank Machhindra FC games have been attended
by dozens of zealous NMB Bank staff that have provided an entertaining
excursion for employees of the company.
Other than his day job at the Cargo firm, there really is no
life outside of football for Chitrakar.
Along with his sports agent work, he is also the president of the Arsenal
Nepal Supporters Club, freshly completed the FIFA Futuro course, and recently
took his family on vacation to Pokhara – to watch the Safal Cup football
tournament!
While Chitrakar is making a name for himself, he still is a
distant second in his family when it comes to fame. His younger sister is none
other than Nepali pop music diva Nalina Chitrakar. However, at the rate he is
closing sports deals it might not be too long before he is on level footing.
