Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) on Monday announced that the 19th edition of the annual NSJF Pulsar Sports Award will be held on March 7 at the Nepal Academy Hall in Kathmandu.

At the press conference, NSJF, the umbrella organisation of sports journalists in the country, also inked title sponsorship deal with Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company (HH), the authorised distributor and producer of Bajaj Pulsar motorbikes in Nepal.

HH director Abhimanyu Golchha and NSJF president Durga Nath Subedi signed the deal. As per the agreement, the company will sponsor five Pulsar motorbikes to be rewarded to the winners of the Sports Award and a cash amount of Rs1.2 million.

According to NSJF, it was the 14th year in a row that the company had been organising the Sports Award and they have added one more bike in this edition.

NSJF will reward players and sportspersons in eight different categories at the award ceremony on the basis of their performance in the past Nepali calendar year. The categories include male, female, coach and youth player of the year, peoples’ choice award, lifetime achievement award, para athlete honour and special award.

There will be five nominees each in the male, female, youth and coach of the year award categories and the winners will be announced at the award ceremony.

There will also be five nominees for the peoples’ choice award. The winner will be decided through eSewa votes, Facebook likes and points allocated by NSJF members and chief coaches of sports associations.

There are no nominations in the para athlete, special, lifetime achievement awards. The winners will be revealed directly during the award ceremony.

NSJF has formed a selection committee under the coordination of its secretary Anjan Khadka for the selection of nominees.

The winners of peoples’ choice, male, female, coach and youth categories will be rewarded with Pulsar motorbikes while the winners of other categories will be given Rs50,000 each and gift hampers.

NSJF will also honour a sports journalist with Asian Sports Journalism award during the award ceremony.

HH director Golchha said that the company was honoured to be part of the prestigious award for almost one and a half decade. “I think it is the only platform to honour players, coaches and other sports personalities at the same stage,” Golchha said, adding that they have been supporting other sports and sports events as well. “Sports plays an important role in a country’s identity, uniting the people and team building.”

NSJF president Subedi said that continuity of the event, fairness in selection and transparency has distinguished the Sports Award from other events of its ilk. He also stressed the need to enhance the award ceremony digitally.