Sports bodies to buckle up

Suresh Subramaniam

By Susil Premalal

With the 14th South Asian Games (SAG) in sight, the Ministry of Sports and the Department of Sports Development have instructed 31 national sports federations to commence national training camps from August 2025.

After years of postponement due to various crises in Pakistan, the South Asian Olympic Council and the Pakistan Olympic Association as hosts have now set the stage for the SAG to finally take place. Representatives of South Asian Olympic committees, meeting recently in Lahore, agreed to hold the event from January 23–31, 2026, across Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad. 

The last edition of the SAG was held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019. Preparing for the SAG and other upcoming international competitions in 2026, the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) has already submitted the required budget estimates to the government for approval, NOCSL President Suresh Subramaniam told the Daily Mirror yesterday.

“We are ready with a firm decision to participate in the SAG. Any changes will depend on the situation in Pakistan,” declared Subramaniam.

For the 2026 SAG, the regional Olympic committee has approved 31 sports disciplines, compared to 26 in the previous edition.

The sports confirmed for the Games are swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, billiards & snooker, boxing, fencing, golf, judo, karate, shooting, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, basketball (3x3 & 5x5), cricket, football, handball & beach handball, hockey, mat kabaddi, rugby, volleyball & beach volleyball and rowing.

Rowing has been proposed as a second optional sport by the host country and will be included once endorsed by at least four other nations.