Ministry, stakeholders set to finalise SA Games schedule today

ISLAMABAD: An important meeting of the Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination comprising all the stakeholders is set to be held today (Monday) to decide the final dates of 14th South Asian Games to be held in March 2023, apart from the possible venues and facilities available in the cities where each sport will be staged.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has already given a go-ahead to organise the mega event in March 2023. The Games will be the third of its kind to be held in Pakistan following the 1989 and 2004 experiences.

‘The News’ has learnt that though March 2023, has been set as the possible month for the Games in Pakistan, no final dates have so far been announced.

The year 2023 will also be the year of election in the country as the general election is expected in August-September 2023.

Usually, a caretaker government takes over the reins of the country three months prior to the dates so that the election could be organized in a free and fair manner. In that perspective, June 2023 could be the starting month of a caretaker government.

So in all probabilities, the sitting government would be wanting to get maximum mileage out of the South Asian sporting extravaganza to be organised near the end of the incumbent government’s five-year in power.

That possibly is one of the reasons, the Games have been taken to the most populous cities of Punjab — Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Gujranwala. Some of the events still are expected to be held in Islamabad.

The meeting that will be chaired by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza would see Lt Gen (r) Syed Arif Hasan (president POA) participating through video link from the USA, besides officials from the Ministry IPC and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

‘The News’ has also learnt that other agenda items will include the establishment of the Secretariat for the Games that should have been in place by now. Establishment of Steering Committee and Organising Committee for the Games are also part of the agenda.

The POA has already started conducting surveys regarding the facilities (boarding, lodging and playing facilities) available in some populous cities of Punjab. Recently a team has visited Faisalabad and Gujranwala to conduct a survey of venues and hotel facilities available.

With the month of Ramzan expected to start from March 23, 2023, there are good chances that the Games’ final dates may well fall during the first 20 days of the month.

The POA is yet to communicate to all the South Asian countries on the formation of secretariat and details about the other formalities that usually start spreading to the participating countries two years in advance.

Sri Lanka Olympic Association has already expressed its willingness to hold the Games if in some way Pakistan is reluctant to do so. However, the completion of initial formalities and communication on the initial details to participating countries would bury all the doubts on Pakistan’s hosting resolve and abilities to host the Games.

“The secretariat for the Games could be established in Islamabad more due to the fact that visa formalities, equipment import, and all the related requirements have direct links with the departments that are based in Islamabad.

The IPC minister always heads the Steering Committee while POA, government, and federation officials constitute the Organising Committee. What required is to know exactly in which city each of the sports will be staged.

The meeting will set the things rolling for holding the Games and indicating at least where the POA wants each sport to be held,” a PSB official said.