All the preparations for the annual NSJF Pulsar Sports Award to be held on Tuesday at the Karate Hall in Satdobato are over, according to the organisers Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF).

The 17th edition of the award was postponed by some four months this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the NSJF said the event will be held semi-virtually following all health and safety regulations. It will also be the first award ceremony in the country to be organised virtually.

The event would have seen the presence of more than 1,000 spectators but a limited number of nominees, awardees, sports officials and guests will be invited to the ceremony owing to Covid-19. "There will be a limited number of spectators in the hall and the event will be broadcast live on four television channels—NTV Plus, Action Sports HD, Image Channel and Janata Television," said NSJF president Devendra Subedi.

The event will also be live streamed through the NSJF's Youtube channel, sports news portals and the digital display at the World Trade Centre, Tripureshwor. According to the organisers, the invitees will also be able to join the session virtually via Zoom.

Besides, the event to kick off at 4:30 pm on Tuesday will have performances by renowned artists of the country. The NSJF has teamed up with Emaging for technical and production aspects of the programme.

The Sports Award will have 10 different categories. Players and coaches have been nominated in different categories on the basis of their performance at national and international sports meets throughout the past Nepali calendar year (2076 BS).

Swimmer Gaurika Singh, karateka Manday Kaji Shrestha, volleyball's Aruna Shahi, basketball's Sadina Shrestha and footballer Sabitra Bhandari have been nominated in the peoples' choice award. The winner of the peoples' choice award will be decided through eSewa votes, Facebook likes and points allocated by NSJF members and chief coaches of sports associations.

NSJF have nominated five players each in the male, female, youth and coach of the year award categories and the winner will be announced at the ceremony. There won't be nominations in the para athlete, special, lifetime achievement and team of the year categories and the Asian Sports Journalists Award. The winner will be revealed directly during the award ceremony.

The winners of peoples' choice, male, female and coach will be rewarded with Pulsar motorbikes while the winners of other categories will be given Rs 50,000 each apart from gift hampers.