Substandard SAG faces axe after 40 years

By Susil Premalal

Colombo, Dec. 31 (Daily Mirror) - The popular South Asian Games (SAG) are most likely to be banished from the regional calendar after the scheduled event in 2024 was further put off for 2025 by the authorities.

Conducted every two years, the SAG has a proud history of over 40 years and was last held way back in 2019 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The 14th edition of the SAG was initially scheduled for March 2022 in Lahore, Pakistan, but later it was postponed to March 2024 by the South Asian Olympic Council (SAOC) Members at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and the security issues in the country.

Pakistan had earlier hosted the SAG on two occasions, in 1989 and 2004.

According to unofficial sources, the SAG Lahore Edition is scheduled to be held from March 14 to April 2, 2024, but the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) is yet to make an official statement on the new dates.

Meanwhile, officials of the respective national sports associations confirmed that it is a tough challenge for them to prepare for the 2024 SAG within a short span of three months.

In addition, all South Asian countries are certain to give priority to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in July–August, and because of that, the authorities are facing a dilemma about conducting the SAG as scheduled.

With so many postponements and unnecessary delays in organising the SAG as scheduled, it has now come to a situation where this regional event could probably be rejected by the IAAF, the world governing body.

“It is a sad situation that the standard of the SAG has declined in the recent past,” former President of Sri Lanka Athletic and top-level coach Sunil Gunawardena told the Daily Mirror.

“Our athletes don’t face any competition at this event, as India has decided to field their second-string athletes for the SAG in the past few years,” Gunawardena emphasised.

He further urged the SAOC officials to take immediate steps to improve the standard of the SAG, and he warned that otherwise this event could be scrapped from the region.

Meanwhile, the medal winners of the 2019 SAG are yet to be officially recognised by the Sports Ministry.

Therefore, the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council have also decided to cut off the SAG medal winners from their financial and provisional documents.