Lalitpur, January 31 Global IME Bank Limited and IME felicitated the Bangabandhu Gold Cup winning national football team here at the ANFA Complex today. President of Global IME Bank Chandra Prasad Dhakal handed over Rs 25,000 each to the 23 players and four officials. Nepal won the international title after 23 years when they lifted the Bangabandhu Gold Cup with a 3-0 victory over Bahrain U-23 team. ANFA acting President Narendra Shrestha thanked IME for honouring the players. “We are happy to see the interest of corporate sector in football and such felicitation will contribute in the development of the sport,” said Shrestha, who asked the players to perform better in the 12th South Asian Games. Dhakal said his organisation wanted to join hands with sports in future. “Through this felicitation we have stepped into Nepali sports and we want to continue this in future. It feels great to get opportunity to felicitate the players.” Coach Bal Gopal Maharjan said such felicitation would encourage the team to do better in future. “We worked hard as a team to get this result and this felicitation has encouraged us to do even better,” he said. Thanking IME for the honour, skipper Biraj Maharjan said the team was committed in performing well in the SA Games. “We have faith in this team and support from our football lovers encourage us more.” CEO of IME Suman Pokhrel said the success of football team brought positive vibes in Nepali sports. “We feel proud when national teams and players win accolades in international arena,” he said. Director of IME Limited Hemraj Dhakal, along with officials from ANFA and Global IME Bank officials were also present at the programme.