Panaji: Soham Sheticar (Chapora Yuvak Sangh) and Simran Narvekar (Sesa FA) bagged the men’s and women’s player of the year awards at the Awards Night 2026, organsied by Goa Football Association at Taleigao, on Monday.




Both strikers showed exceptional goal-scoring form in the senior leagues last season.




The coach of the year was Francisco Savio Vaz , who guided Sporting Clube de Goa to their third consecutive Goa Professional League title. Sporting also won the Team of the Year award.




Karen Ann D’Souza (Sesa FA) received the Fans’ Favourite Player Award.




“The success of every season is the result of the collective efforts of many people,” said GFA president Caitano Fernandes. “I thank our executive committee members, GFA staff, organisers, referees, clubs, coaches, players, volunteers, sponsors and football fans who have stood by the game throughout the year. The achievements we celebrate tonight belong to the entire football community of Goa, and together we will continue working towards taking Goan football to greater heights.




The GFA provided a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the Goa beach football team, which won the silver medal at the national level, and the Goa women’s team in recognition of their achievements and contribution to the state’s footballing success.




GFA honoured Shivanand Salgaocar and Mauricio Afonso with Lifetime Achievement awards.




Salgaocar won the award in the administration category. He has been a lifelong football enthusiast inspired by his father, late Vasudev Salgaocar. He played a pivotal role in guiding Salgaocar FC to the top of Indian football, as the club won numerous domestic honours, including the National Football League, Federation Cup, Rovers Cup and several state titles.




Former India captain Mauricio Afonso, regarded as one of Goa’s finest midfielders, won the award in the player category. He was a member of Goa's victorious junior national championship team in 1981 and Santosh Trophy-winning squads in 1983 and 1984. Mauricio enjoyed a distinguished playing career at Dempo SC before making an equally significant impact as a coach at both club and national levels.




The Special Appreciation Awards were presented to Bernadinho Velho and Milagres Terez for their contribution to refereeing, late Valerian Gerson Rebelo for his contribution to Goan football, retd DYSP Sandesh Chodankar for his work in investigating match-fixing allegations, Chapora Yuvak Sangh president Pravin Dabholkar for his role in bringing integrity concerns to the attention of the authorities, and Reliance Foundation for its contribution towards youth football development in Goa.




The GFA also recognised the efforts of organisers, venue coordinators, volunteers, referees and officials who played a crucial role last season.




Meanwhile, the GFA has announced their partnership with Reliance Foundation for Youth Leagues of 2026-27 season.