Kathmandu, July 15:

A group of karate players, coaches and officials led by Nepal Karate Federation secretary Purendra Bikram Lakhe handed over a memorandum to National Sports Council member secretary Jeevan Ram Shrestha today. The group asked the NSC to make public the reasons of including only three sports — taekwondo, cricket and football — in priority under the budget presented on Thursday.

“We want to know the reasons of not including karate — which has won bronze medals from the 13th and 14th Asian Games and won 14 gold medals in eighth SAF Games — in priority,” said Lakhe. Member secretary Shrestha assured of fulfiling their demands within a week. “We are also unaware of the reasons why only three sports were included in the priority list. “We will talk to the Finance Ministry and find out the details,” he assured.