LAHORE: Pakistan will be the host of the delayed games in southern Asia in 2026, the National Olympic Committee of South Asia announced at a meeting held here on Tuesday.
The games, which would be supposed to be held in 2021 but were postponed due to COVID-19, will be organized in Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad from January 23 to 31.
The meeting, chaired by the president of the Olympic Association of the Olympic Committee of South Asia, the president of the Olympic Association of Pakistan, Arif Saeed, attended the representatives of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bután and the Maldives, while a Indian spokesman joined the online meeting.
There were problems in the celebration of the swimming gala in 2021, since the POA and the Pakistan government were not on the same page with respect to different issues.
Doubts still persist in the Games, since the Olympic Association of India may not obtain a certificate without objection (NOC) of its government to send the contingent to Pakistan according to the stubborn policy adopted by the Indian government.
The meeting reinforced the collective commitment of the National Olympic Committees of South Asia to promote regional sports development and strengthen cooperation through sports.
The achievement of Javelin stars Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra of India also stood out during the meeting.
The athletes brought southern Asia to the world attention center in Paris 2024 by winning medals in the javelin shoot , unity and aspirations shared through the edges.
In addition, it was also announced that the events for each sport will also be decided before March 31 and the technical manuals will be prepared and released subject to the approval of the Asian federations in question.
It was also decided to form the review committee of the Constitution of the Olympic Committee of South Asia to align its Constitution with the Olympic Council of Asia.
The rowing, proposed as a second optional sport for the National Olympic Committee host, will be included once it receives the support of at least four national Olympic committees as an additional sport for the program already approved.
Up to 27 different disciplines were approved at the meeting for games. These include:
Swimming (men and women), archery (men and women), athletics (men and women), bádminton (men and women), pool and billiards (men), boxing (men and women), fences (men and women) , golf (men and women), judo (men and women), karate (men and women), shots (men and women), pumpkins (men and women), table tennis (men and women) Taekwondo (men and women), tennis (men and women), triathlon (men and women), weightlifting (men and women), struggle (men and women), wushu (men and women), basketball 3×3 and 5×5 (men and women), Cricket (men and women), football (men and women), handball (men and women) and beach handball (men), hockey (men), mata Kabaddi (men and women), rugby (men), volleyball (men and women) and beach volleyball (men) and rowing.
Posted in Dawn, February 26, 2025
