Kathmandu, July 17

The National Sports Council on Friday finalised the dates of the seventh National Games and decided to work with internationally-recognised Nepal Olympic Committee for the upcoming South Asian Games.

The 102nd Board Meeting, chaired by Youth and Sports Minister Purushottam Paudel, decided to organise the seventh National Games — which was announced by the then NSC Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama two years ago but cancelled after the government did not allocate budget — from November 27 to December 4 in Eastern Development Region. The Board Meeting was held for first time in one year following the tussle between Minister Paudel and Lama.

“The previous NSC leadership had handed over the flag to Eastern Region and we are organising the Games accordingly,” said NSC Member Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista at a press meet. “We are planning to include 35-40 sports in the Games. We will hold more events in Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa districts, while we will organise few in Siraha, Spatari and Udaypur and we are also trying to organise some events in Dhankuta or Terhathum,” added Bista.

The government has allocated Rs 230 million for the Games. “We can demand more if the budget is inadequate,” said Bista. “We are sending a team to the Eastern Region tomorrow for the feasibility study of the venues,” he added.

The Board also decided to participate in the 12th SA Games in India and coordinate with the internationally-recognised NOC for the same. “We will work with the NOC from where we can send our athletes to India,” said Bista. NSC Vice-president Lama Tendi Sherpa argued there was only one NOC. “There is only one NOC and that is internationally recognised,” said Sherpa, who is the acting General Secretary of the NOC led by Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan.

Asked about the preparations, Bista said 12 sports disciplines had already began their training and the events would be added in near future. “We will not only focus the training for one tournament, instead we will train the players throughout the year,” he added. “Other sports will also begin their preparation once events were finalised by the South Asian Olympic Council,” Bista added. “And we will apply scientific method in training as per the need of the athletes.”

The NSC also decided to ask the government to provide taekwondo player Sakshyam Karki with the amount of Rs 346,700 spent for his treatment. Karki was injured during sparring ahead of the 17th Asian Games in in Incheon, South Korea. “We approved the amount demanded by the player and asked the government for reimbursement,” Bista added. The meeting also decided to form Regional and District Sports Development Committees. “Four regions and 70 districts are without office bearers at the moment and the meeting has provided me with the responsibility of appointing officials,” Bista informed. “We have also decided to make public the White Paper of the last four years as everyone should know about the current status of the sports governing body,” he added.