ANFA awarded referees Kiran Giri, Surendra Sikhrakar, Binod KC and Kalpana Sharma; coaches Padam Krishna Shrestha, Shiva Bhakta Joshi, Bhim Thapa and Dhan Bahadur Basnet, and players Jamuna Gurung and Surendra Tamang. All the awardees were given Rs 100,000 and a Yamaha motorbike each.[break]
CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli and National Sports Council (NSC) Vice-president Pitambar Timilsina gave away the awards. The annual award is set up in the memory of former national team captain and FIFA referee late Rupak Raj Sharma who died in a plane crash in Bhattedanda, Lalitpur in 1992 while returning from Pakistan on a PIA flight.
Below are brief profiles of the awardees and their contributions to Nepali football.
Kiran Giri
Giri, 42, a resident of Biratnagar, started his career as a national referee in 1992 and got the FIFA assistant referee license in 1997. He served as a FIFA assistant referee for 14 years until 2011.
Giri has officiated in all three divisions of the domestic league and also in national level tournaments. At the international level, Giri has officiated in the Club Championship Asia Cup (Uzbekistan), U-19 Asian Cup (India), Asian Championship (Thailand), Asian Club Championship (Maldives), 2002 Korea/Japan Qualifying rounds (Saudi Arabia), 2006 SAF Games (Colombo), Nehru Cup (Delhi) and SAFF Championship (Bangladesh), among others.
Surendra Sikhrakar
Sikhrakar, who hails from Tebahal, Kathmandu, is renowned as a coach but was also a member of the Nepali national squad.
Giri started his playing career with Sankata in the C division league in 2038 BS and was a key member of the squad when the club earned promotion to A division four years later. He has played in the A division league, Birthday Cup, Nara Trophy and other national level tournaments.
The 46-year-old has represented Nepal in U-13 and U-16 age group tournaments and also at the senior level. He played for Nepal Airlines Corporation, Three Star, Friends Club and Royal Drugs Limited in top level domestic football.
Sikhrakar got the batch of national referee in 1995 and FIFA referee in 1997. During his 12-year career as a FIFA referee, he officiated in international tournaments like the 1997 World Cup Qualifiers (Turkmenistan), Asian Youth Qualifiers (India), 1999 SAFF (Kathmandu) and Asian Cup Qualifiers, among others. He also officiated in the Nehru Cup (India). Sikhrakar is currently the president of Referee Association of Nepal as well as instructor and assessor.
Binod KC
KC, 48, a resident of Lalitpur, played in the top tier domestic football for 11 years from 1979. He got the FIFA assistant referee license in 1997 and served in the same capacity until 2010. He also holds the AFC Elite Referee (2006) certificate.
Kalpana Sharma
Sharma is the first woman FIFA referee from the South Asian region. She started her career as a referee a year after taking referee training in 1993. She got the FIFA assistant referee batch in 1999 and worked in the same capacity until 2007. Sharma has been working as a FIFA referee after receiving the batch in 2008.
She has officiated in international tournaments, including the 1999 Asian Women Championship (Philippines), 2004 Asian U-19 Women´s Championship (China), 2007 ASEAN Women´s Championship (Myanmar), 2011 South Asian Games (Bangladesh), 2010 SAFF Women´s Championship (Bangladesh) and 2012 SAFF Women´s Championship (Bangladesh), in the capacity of referee and assistant referee.
Before starting her career as a referee, Sharma had represented Nepal in the 1989 Asian Women´s Football Championship in Hong Kong. She played in domestic women´s football for 17 years starting in 1982 .
Padam Krishna Shrestha
Shrestha is the first batch coach of NIS Patiala and started his coaching career in 1969. He served as the vice-president of ANFA in 1990 and was also the acting chief of the football governing body for a brief period. He served as coach at the National Sports Council for 20 years and was later appointed as the chief coach. He also took part in an A license coaching course in Germany in 1983. He got Sports Management certificate from Germany (1985) and FIFA License Course from Malaysia (1972). Shrestha played from Friends Union and was a key member of the squad that won the title in 1967.
Shiva Bhakta Joshi
Former national team skipper Raju Shakya received the award on behalf of Joshi for an undisclosed reason. Joshi, 68, started his coaching career as a physical coach in 1986. He also served as the assistant coach of the national team and the coach of U-15 and youth teams. He was a member of the national football team in 1970. Joshi has taken a diploma coaching course from Patiala and advanced course from Germany.
Bhim Thapa
Thapa has taken charge as head coach of the national team in various international tournaments such as Pre-World Cup, Pre-Olympic, SAF Games and others since 1984. He has also worked as coordinator of various coaching courses in Nepal. A former general secretary of ANFA, Thapa worked as physical instructor at the Ministry of Education and Sports for eight years. He has also played for various top flight clubs and zonal team of Nepal. Thapa holds an A license from West Germany.
Dhan Bahadur Basnet
Basnet served as the chief coach of NSC and was the chief of training and coaching department. The 62-year-old joined NSC in 1981.
Surendra Tamang
Tamang is a former member of the Nepali national team. The 33-year-old featured in various international tournaments from 2003 to 2007. He won the best forward award in the 2004 Martyrs Memorial League and the best player award in the 2008 Governor´s Gold Cup. Tamang has scored more than 50 goals in the domestic league. Tamang is currently associated with Saraswati Club.
Jamuna Gurung
Gurung is the skipper of the current national women´s football team. Gurung, equally efficient in midfield as well as a forward, has scored a record 25 international goals. The 24-year-old has guided Armed Police Force (APF) to title in various national level tournaments.
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