By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Sharad Chandra Shah has been posthumously honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Pulsar Sports Awards ceremony held in the capital on Tuesday.
It was Shah who started national games and inter-city sports tournaments when he was at the helm of the National Sports Council from 1977 to 1988. He was also one of the influential persons of that time to initiate the concept of South Asian Games. Sports infrastructures were developed across the country during his tenure.
During his term in office, Shah built covered halls in all the 75 districts of the country and a stadium in each of the five development regions. He had implemented the concept of sports tax for the development of sports. He had good relations with international sports bodies. He was also the vice president of the Asian Olympic Committee. He also held the position of Nepal Olympic Committee chief simultaneously, thereby avoiding any conflict between the NOC and the NSC.
Nepal’s biggest achievement in international sports till date included eight bronze medals in a single edition of the Asian Games during his tenure.
Sharad Chandra Shah’s era came to an end with the unfortunate stampede at the Dasharath Stadium in 2045 BS (1988). He and his associates at the National Sports Council tendered their resignations en masse after 72 persons were killed in the stampede.
Shah died in Singapore on June 19, 2012. His daughter Mihika Shah received the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the family.
