On a windy Himalayan plateau a football game is in full swing between local Nepalis and African players. They crack the ball, which soars in the high thin air and sprint with snow-capped peaks in the background. Eventually, the smaller Nepalis triumph and celebrate their victory while guzzling the energy drink Powerade, a Coca Cola product.

The commercial for which the mountain football match was filmed in Jomsom in March has already been launched in Europe to accompany World Cup coverage. But after 10 days of shooting and just when the commercial airs in Asia, some of the actor-players are complaining.

Initially Indian ad makers Highlight Films were going to shoot with only Nepali players but the African footballers were brought in at the last minute. Ten Nepalis were chosen from more than 100 who auditioned, accepting Rs 3,000 a day while the African footballers got Rs 4,000.

For the B division Nepali players it was a rare treat: they made more in 10 days than what they could normally earn in a year. Besides, the world would see them. But it suddenly hit them afterwards that they may have been paid too little.
"We should have got more considering how much Coke makes but it was a lot of money for us," says Raj Kumar Ghising, who plays for the Manang Marsyandi Club. The African players were not available for comment since they have left after the end of Nepal's football season.

But Chijioke Akuneziri, coach and manager of the African United Club, is furious. "What they paid the players is nothing to what they will make. The Nepali players got far less than what the African players did," the boss of last year's league winner told us.

Highlight Films Producer Shiela Chatarjee denied there was any discrimination between the African and Nepali players. "For one, they were all paid more than what they asked for," she said, "the African footballers we used got paid more than the Nepali players since they were from the top teams and the Nepali players got paid more than their average salary."