Pundit Atma Ram Sharma, the father of head coach Ramesh Sharma, passed away on Thursday night at Lautoka Hospital and the impact of his death has been felt strongly within the Fijian football community.
“The Fiji Football Association family is saddened by the news of the sudden passing away of Ramesh’s father,” Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar says. “Our prayers and support go towards Ramesh and his family.”
Coach Sharma says his father, who hailed from Ba and represented Nadroga during his playing days, was a major inspiration in his life.
““My dad was very supportive towards my involvement in football. For the past 20 years I have been involved with Fiji FA in various activities and he was always by my side. He was really looking forward to me coaching the national women’s side at the OFC Women’s Nations Cup,” Sharma says.
Fiji FA technical director Saiyad Ali says the team will now travel to New Zealand without their coach, who will arrive in Auckland a few days later.
“It was sad to hear about the passing away and our support is with Ramesh in these times,” Ali says. “We have decided to give Ramesh some time off and, since we do not play our first match until Thursday, Ramesh will be joining the team on Tuesday.”
The opening game of Fiji’s OFC Women’s Nations Cup campaign takes place against Papua New Guinea on Thursday at 1pm.
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