Kathmandu, Dec 21: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the government will extend whatever support it can for the development and expansion of the sports sector.    

PM Deuba said so while honouring the Nepali national football team amidst a special programme organized at his official residence in Baluwatar today.

The national team had become the first runner up team in the 13th SAFF Championship Football Championship held in the Maldives.    

On this occasion, the Prime Minister honoured the players in the national football team with a cash award. The Nepali national team was defeated by India in the final match of the Championship held from October 1 to 16.    

He expressed the government's commitment to honour the medal-winning players in the coming days as well as encouraging the players.    

The government honoured the players by providing Rs 500 thousand to each player, the three coaches with Rs 300 thousand each and the officials with certificates.    

The players honoured on the occasion are Kiran Chemjong, Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Suman Aryal, Gautam Shrestha, Sujal Shrestha, Tej Tamang, Rohit Chand, Pujan Uparkoti, Suman Lama, Nawayug Shrestha, Suraj Thakuri, Nitin Thapa, Bishal Rai, Sunil Bal, Ashish Lama, Santosh Tamang, Aayush Ghalan, Bishal Shrestha, Manish Dangi and Kamal Thapa.    

Likewise, the honoured coaches are Abdullah Al Mutairi, Kiran Shrestha and Bikash Malla. Physician Abishkar Pudasaini and team manager Madhusudan Upadhyay were also honoured on the occasion.    

Before this, the government had announced a cash award of Rs 500 thousand to each player of the national football team successful in producing the historic results in the SAFF Championship. It feted the national football team today in keeping with its earlier announcement.    

The programme was organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Minister Maheshwar Jung Gahatraj underscored the need for the government to pay attention to the development and promotion of football in the country as it has the possibility of achieving the best results.