The NSC is preparing to defer the sporting extravaganza keeping in view of the 12 South Asian Games which is just three months away. The sports governing body of Nepal is considering to organize the national games either from December 24 or from February 22 so as not to coincide the event with the 12th SAG scheduled to be held in India from February 6-16 next year.The Seventh National Games were earlier scheduled to be held in the Eastern Region from November 27 to December 4. However, after failing to get the budget from the government as the finance minister is yet to be confirmed and the ongoing unrest in the Tarai region, is almost certain to push the games either for December or February.
NSC Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista told Republica after a meeting with various sports associations on Tuesday that the NSC is considering to host the national games either in the last week of December or February.
"We are unable to host the Seventh National Games on the scheduled time due to lack of budget as the finance minister is yet to be confirmed. At the same time, the Tarai unrest is also causing trouble for hosting the event," said Bista.
Member Secretary Bista is preparing to put the proposal during the next board meeting of the NSC. However, the date of the board meeting itself is uncertain since the post of the Minister for Youth and Sports is currently lying vacant. As per the NSC rules, the sports minister must chair the board meeting of the NSC.
According to Bista, the NSC wants to organize the national games from December 24 as the same tournament will serve as the selection event for the SAG.
But the chances of hosting the national games in December will be possible only if the sports minister gets appointed before Tihar festival, according to Bista.
"We are mostly focused on the SAG as we have chances of winning medals in the regional mega event and the national games will also serve as the selection tournament," informed Bista.
Bista also informed that the dates and venues of various sporting events for the national games could be changed.
"We are also thinking about the possibilities of organizing different games at different venues and dates. We could organize shooting, squash and some other events in the capital as well," said Bista, who added that players of 12 sports are still under special training.
Sports Associations demand National Games after SAG
The representatives of almost all sports associations taking part in the SAG demanded that the national games should be organized only after the South Asian Games. They all claimed that their players are able to win medals in the SAG.
They suggested to Bista that the NSC should focus on South Asian Games rather than hosting national games as there is only three months remaining for the SAG.
Representatives of the sports associations demanded that selection games should be organized for the SAG and closed-camp trainings should also be started as soon as possible.
"We are sure that our players will bag medals in the SAG. So, the players should be sent to foreign countries for the training," said Rajiv Shrestha, president of Nepal Boxing Association.
Similarly, Deepak Harsha Bajracharya, president of Nepal Judo Association, also stressed on special trainings to win medals in the SAG.
Meanwhile, NSC Member Secretary Bista assured them that the sports governing body is planning to send players for foreign training for the SAG and bring foreign coaches for the closed-camp trainings.
The NSC also asked proposals for selection games, physical facilities and other necessary things from all sports associations for allocating budget for the SAG.
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