14th South Asian Games postponed for 2024

By Susil Premalal

The 14th South Asian Games (SAG) have been put off until 2024, the South Asian Olympic Council (SAOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced.
The SAG was scheduled for July 2023 in Lahore, Pakistan, but after several requests from the host nation and a few other regional countries, the SAOC and the OCA decided to postpone the event during a special session held in Cambodia.

Therefore, the new dates for the 2024 SAG will be announced by the Pakistan Olympic Committee (POC) before July 2023.

This will be the third time that Pakistan will host the SAG, having earlier conducted the event in 1989 and 2004 in Islamabad.

In addition to Lahore, some of the events of the 2024 SAG will also be held in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad, and Sialkot.

The 2024 SAG will be the first since the 2019 event, which was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, where Sri Lanka secured third place with 40 gold, 83 silver, and 128 bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are set to begin their preparations for the 2024 SAG with the formation of the respective national pools once the dates and the venues 
are confirmed.

Sri Lanka’s National Sports Associations (NSA) are hoping to begin training once they receive the allocated funds from the 2023 budget.

However, the Sports Ministry has already instructed all NSAs that they should begin training while targeting the Asian Games, which will be held from September 28 to October 5 in China.