Bala Devi, Sandesh Jhingan nominated for Arjuna Award

The All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) has nominated N Bala Devi and Sandesh Jhingan for the Arjuna Award of 2020. The decision was reported by goal.com.

Arjuna Award is an honour that has been bestowed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It recognises the achievements of the athletes in their respective fields.

In 2019, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was awarded the Arjuna award which made him the 26^th footballer to receive this prestigious award.

Players nominated for Arjuna Award:

N Bala Devi: In January 2020, N Bala Devi became the Indian Woman professional footballer who played in Europe. She was also signed by Scottish Club Rangers for a deal which was of 18 months.

With all these achievements, Bala is also the top scorer of the Indian women’s team. Since 2010, she has netted 52 goals in 58 appearances.

Sandesh Jhingan: Sandesh Jhingan first made his international debut in 2015. He has been a regular in the national team. Sandesh Jhingan has so far represented India in 38 football matches.

Nominations for Annual Sports Awards 2020:

On May 5, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had invited the sports organisations including the National Sports Federation, the Indian Olympic Association, and Sports Authority of India to submit the nomination of the individuals for the Annual Sports Awards 2020.

List of the Awards:

The ministry released a circular and invited nominations for the awards-

•  Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement

•  Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar

•  Dronacharya Award

•  Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

•  Arjuna Award

Nomination invited through e-mail: Background

The sports ministry had invited the nominations for the National Sports Awards 2020 through e-mail. The procedure was adopted because of the ongoing nationwide lockdown to combat COVID-19.

This time, the hard copies have not been required and the scanned copies with the applicants and recommending authorities signatures must be submitted before the last date. The nominations were usually invited in April but this year they were pushed to May 2020.