Kathmandu, May 9

The Ministry of Youth and Sports today finalised the logo and mascot of the 13th South Asian Games apart from forming the technical committee and handing over the team preparation to the National Sports Council.

The meeting of Preparation and Management Committee approved the logo and mascot proposed by the Nepal Olympic Committee and formed the Technical Committee under NSC Member Ganga Bahadur Thapa. National Institute of Sports Department Director Rim Ranabhat, former NIS chief Parth Sarathi Sen Gupta and NOC Member Nilendra Shrestha are the other members of the committee.

The meeting, chaired by Youth and Sports Minister Jagat Bahadur Sunar, also gave the responsibility of national team preparation to the NSC and decided to send invitation letters to all participating nations through Foreign Ministry.

According to a participant of the meeting, the ministry has asked all stakeholders to speed up the preparation after the government included the hosting of the 13th SA Games in its Plans and Policies. “As the government has included the 13th SA Games in its Plans and Policies, we will not leave any stone unturned to organise the Games on time and successfully,” the source quoted Minister Sunar as saying.

The meeting finalised a pair of Blackbucks as the Games mascot and a pigeon flying with the images of South Asian nations as the logo, which also includes world heritage sites and mountains of Nepal in the background.

The meeting also formed a five-member taskforce under NSC Vice-president Pitambar Timsina to prepare the budget for the SA Games.

The government had last year allocated five million rupees and Minister Sunar was hopeful of getting adequate budget in upcoming fiscal year to host the regional sporting extravaganza.

The meeting also finalised the number of athletes to represent the home team in the Games. “We have decided to field 625 athletes in all 29 sports disciplines and that the NSC will prepare the national team,” said one official who attended the meeting. “Minister Sunar has asked the NSC to call the eighth National Games medallists in the training camp and start the preparation at the earliest,” he added.

After a series of postponement due to the lack of infrastructure, especially the Dasharath Stadium, the meeting of South Asian Olympic Council has decided to host the Games from December 1-9 in Kathmandu and Pokhara.