KATHMANDU, April 12: After winning 43 national caps, defender Sandeep Rai felt it was the happiest day of his career on Thursday when All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) awarded him a car after being announced the Ncell Football Player of the Year 2069.
“This could be the happiest day of my life. All my hard work is finally paying off,” said Rai accepting the award. [break]
Rai received Hyundai Eon car worth around Rs 1.7 million and became the third footballer to be awarded a car. Earlier, Upendra Man Singh and Hari Khadka had been awarded cars from ANFA for their contribution to Nepali football.
This is the first Ncell Football Player of the Year Award after the sponsorship deal between ANFA and Ncell in June 2012.
ANFA President Ganesh Thapa and corporate communication director of Ncell Sanju Koirala handed over the car key to Rai amidst a ceremony at ANFA-complex, Lalitpur.
Rai receives car keys from ANFA President Ganesh Thapa (L) and NCell´s Sanju Koirala (M). (Photo: Bijay Rai)
Rai received 111,317 SMS votes, 912 points from coaches and 439 points from sports journalists to become the footballer of the year. National team forward Bharat Khawas was the first choice of coaches and journalists but Rai left him behind in SMS votes. Khawas received only 61,408 SMS votes but 1256 points from coaches and 758 points from journalists. Anil Gurung was the second runner-up in the contest securing 85,970 SMS votes, 664 points from coaches and 410 points from journalists.
ANFA had nominated all the 23 players of the national team in the competition. SMS votes had 60 percent weightage while coaches and journalists´ vote had a weightage of 20 percent each.
Altogether, 519,069 people had voted their favorite stars, while 82 licensed coaches and 43 sports journalists had participated in the voting.
“I´m happy to win this award and I´m happier that coaches voted me generously,” said Rai. Rai was the third favorite of the coaches behind Khawas and Rohit Chand (916 points).
“I want to thank all my well-wishers and fans, coaches and media people for their votes. Meanwhile, I express my sincere gratitude to ANFA and Ncell for doing all this for players,” said Rai.
Rai, 24-year-old son of Deepak Rai from Duhabi, Sunsari, had made his first international debut in March 25, 2008 against Pakistan in a friendly match held in Pokhara.
PHOTO: BIJAY RAI
Rai, the second batch footballer of ANFA Academy, has scored three goals for the national side. He scored his first international goal against Macau in 2008 during the AFC Challenge Cup held in Cambodia and the second against Maldives during the SAFF Championship held in India in 2011. He had also scored against Northern Mariana Island in the recently concluded AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Kathmandu.
Rai has been playing professional football from the Martyrs Memorial League champion Three Star Club for the last one year. He had also played for domestic clubs like New Road Team and Manang Marshyangdi. Rai had also played for Kolkata-based Mohammedan Sporting Club, Kolkata for a short period in 2010.
“I received the award during the mid of my career and it has not only given me happiness but also added responsibility on my shoulders,” said Rai. “Since all the members of national teams are expecting to win the upcoming SAFF Championship. I´ll do everything to make it possible,” he added.
Handing over the award to Rai, ANFA President Thapa said that the association has always been working to create an environment for professional football and the welfare of footballers.
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