AFA secretary Ankur Dutta presents a cheque to Sanjiba Rongpi at a felicitation ceremony in Guwahati on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, June 4: Mecurial striker Sanjiba Rongpi today bagged the footballer of the year award, introduced by the Assam Football Association (AFA) this year, for his outsta-nding contribution towards his club, district and Assam during the 2005-06 season.

Conferring the award that comprises a memento and a cash incentive of Rs 10,000, AFA secretary Ankur Dutta lauded the Assam State Electricity Board SC forward for having netted as many as 33 goals during the last season.

The AFA also felicitated Mintu Boro, who was part of the Indian junior squad that went to Portugal on an exposure tour last year. His three teammates from Assam ? U. Shyamsunder Reddy, Jyotish Basumatary and Ajmer Hussain Laskar ?were also supposed to be feted, but could not attend the ceremony.

The AFA today adopted two amendments to its rules at its governing body meeting.

Accordingly, a player, registered as belonging to a club or establishment in another district, will be able to represent his home district with due clearance from the playing district in inter-district meets. However, the player will have to produce a no-objection certificate obtained from his home district and authentic proof of residence in the district concerned to get permission to represent his home district.

According to the other amendment, an under-16 player can take part in under-19 or under-21 meets and will still remain eligible for the under-16 age group said AFA vice-president J.K. Bora.