Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra made IOA´s intent clear with the Nepal Olympic Committee President Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan over telephone.[break]
“I made a call to Malhotra recently and he said that the IOA is focusing on preparations for London Olympics 2012.
He also said that hosting the 12th SAG in early 2012 would be difficult as there would be a very short preparation time. London Olympics will be held from July 27 to August 12 in 2012 and Paralympics from August 29 to September 9,” said NOC President Pradhan. Shrestha however added that the decision was not official.
India had agreed to host the 12th SAG in Delhi after Bhutan expressed its inability to host the games during the 41st South Asian Olympic Council held at Dhaka in February 2010.
As per the tradition of bringing the games to each country in South Asia, Bhutan was selected for hosting the 12th edition of the games originally.
India had said that Delhi had been chosen as the venue.
National Sports Council (NSC) has been running training camps for eight different games targeting the 12th SAG, Delhi. NSC has been running the training programs called ´Mission SAG´ for 61 players.
“I also heard the unofficial information that India is considering postponement, let´s wait for official information,” said NSC Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama.
The 11th South Asian Games was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on early 2010 while Nepal has principally agreed to host the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu.
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