Pak govt seems to be shying away from the challenge of hosting the 14th South Asian Games. Is it because of the $25m price tag?

At New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam, top officials from across the continent gathered for the 44^th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on September 8.

At the top of moot’s agenda was to elect the new OCA leadership.

While the OCA bigwigs were busy with the General Assembly, Pakistan’s top sports officials were meeting their South Asian counterparts in a bid to save what should be the biggest sporting event to be held in the country in 20 years – the 14^th South Asian Games.

Well-placed sources told Nukta on Tuesday that Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) chiefs met with key South Asian Olympic Council (SAOC) on the sidelines of the OCA moot with the twice-postponed South Asian Games as the only item on the agenda.

Pakistan were awarded the rights to host the Games following the previous edition held in Nepal in 2019. It was initially decided to hold the Games early in 2023 but the event was moved to March 2024. However, now Pakistan is looking to hold the regional extravaganza next year.

But even that looks a bit unlikely.

This was the reason why POA and SAOC officials met in New Delhi.

SAOC was supposed to send a delegation to Pakistan last month to review arrangements for the Games. However, Pakistan requested them to reschedule the visit to October.

But in New Delhi, POA officials requested yet another delay, urging SAOC to instead send its delegation in November.

It is apparent that SAOC is losing patience.

The council has given POA five days to negotiate the matter with Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, who has been appointed by SAOC to find a solution to the issue of the delayed Games.

Information gathered by Nukta reveals that POA Secretary General Khalid Mehmood is trying to convince Shrestha that Pakistan was still ready to host the Games for the first time since 2004.

But is it actually ready?

It doesn’t seem so.

Well-placed sources told Nukta that the Pakistani government doesn’t seem serious about backing the South Asian Games primarily because the event comes at a price tag of PKR7 billion (USD25 million), which is big amount considering the current economic conditions. A substantial portion of the amount (PKR3 billion) will have to be spent on the crumbling sports infra-structure.

So, what will the SAOC do if POA fails to convince it that Pakistan will be ready to host the Games in 2025?

First let’s discuss about the body itself.

What is SAOC?

The Council has seven members including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Afghanistan was also part of the council and it featured in the Games from 2004 to 2016 until it decided to leave the group to join the Central Asian zone.

Why does SAOC want to visit Pakistan?

During its proposed visit of Pakistan, the SAOC delegation will inspect the various venues which have been finalized for holding the Games.

Pakistan previously hosted these Games in 1989 and 2004 at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad.

Lahore to serve as lead venue

But this time Lahore will be playing a major role in the staging of the 14th South Asian Games if the event is held in Pakistan. The city will not only have the Games secretariat but it will also act as host to a bulk of 18 disciplines to be contested during the Games.

Lahore is expected to host archery, badminton, basketball, boxing, fencing, football, golf, hockey, judo, kabaddi, karate, rugby, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling and cricket events.

Islamabad will host athletics, squash, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, wushu, billiard, snooker, triathlon and rowing while handball will be conducted in Faisalabad which is the hub of this sport.

Sri Lanka face Bangladesh in a cricket match during the 2019 South Asian Games. Olympic Council of Asia

Time-frame options

Pakistan has two options as far as the time-frame of the Games is concerned. Either it will have to host it in February next year as has been decided or it will have to delay the Games as the country is set to host the ICC Champions Trophy and later the Pakistan Super League in 2025. These events will be held from mid-February to May 20.

What if Pakistan fails to host the Games early next year?

Then SAOC will most likely hand over the hosting rights of the 14^th South Asian Games to Sri Lanka. This because Pakistan would have wasted five years (they got the rights in 2019) due to poor planning.

In January 2021, POA officials had briefed the then Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad about the Games. Khan gave his go-ahead. A committee was constituted including then former federal minister Asad Umar and former IPC minister Dr Fehmida Mirza. No progress was made after that.

Fast forward it to 2024 and most issues including infra-structure and required funds remain unresolved.

Sri Lanka is ready to take over

Nukta understands that Sri Lanka is ready if Pakistan fails to host the Games as per plans.

In fact, it has always been keen to stage the event and made a bid for the 14^th edition as well. According to an eye witness account, during the chefs de mission meeting at the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal, a representative of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had objected that Pakistan had issues and it was not an appropriate host nation. A representative of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka added to this stressing that the Games should be given to them and they could host it in a befitting way.

However, Pakistan forcefully pleaded its case, stressing that it was its turn to host the Games. SAOC ruled in Pakistan’s favor.

Five years later, the council might be regretting that decision.