South Asian Games
Multi-sport event in South Asia
South Asian Games
AbbreviationSAG
MottoPeace, Prosperity Progress
First event1984 South Asian Games, Kathmandu, Nepal
Occur everyFour years
Last event2019 South Asian Games, Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal
Next event2026 South Asian Games, 4 host cities, Pakistan
PurposeMulti-sport event for nations in South Asia

The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan had participated in the Games four times, but left the SAOC after participating in 2016.

The first South Asian Games were hosted by Kathmandu, Nepal in 1984. From 1984 to 1987 they were held every year except 1986, as it was a year of Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. From 1987 onwards, they have been held every two years except for some occasions. In 2004, the South Asian Sports Council decided to rename the games from the South Asian Federation Games to the South Asian Games as officials believed the word federation was diminishing the emphasis on the event and acting as a barrier to attracting spectators.[1]

These are often known as the South Asian version of Olympic Games. The XIII South Asian Games was held at Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur from 1 December to 10 December 2019.

The South Asian Games is one of five subregional Games of the Olympic Council of Asia. The others are Central Asian Games, East Asian Youth Games, Southeast Asian Games, and West Asian Games.[2]

Editions

class=notpageimage|
Host cities of the South Asian Games
Edition Year Host Cities Host nation Nations Sports Events Top Nation Ref
1 1984 Kathmandu   Nepal 7 5 62 India India [3]
2 1985 Dhaka Bangladesh 7 7 94 India India [4]
3 1987 Calcutta India 7 10 116 India India [5]
4 1989 Islamabad Pakistan 7 10 114 India India [6]
5 1991 Colombo Sri Lanka 7 10 142 India India [7]
6 1993 Dhaka Bangladesh 7 11 115 India India [8]
7 1995 Madras India 7 14 143 India India [9]
8 1999 Kathmandu   Nepal 7 12 163 India India [10]
9 2004 Islamabad Pakistan 8 15 170 India India [11]
10 2006 Colombo Sri Lanka 8 20 197 India India [12]
11 2010 Dhaka Bangladesh 8 23 158 India India [13]
12 2016 Guwahati
Shillong 		India 8 22 226 India India [14]
13 2019 Kathmandu
Pokhara 		  Nepal 7 26 317 India India [15]
14 2027 [16] Lahore Pakistan 7 37 TBD

List of sports

Following 29 sports have been competed in South Asian Games history till latest edition:

Medal table

Rank NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 India India 1263 736 379 2378
2 Pakistan Pakistan 297 421 432 1150
3 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 250 436 681 1367
4 Nepal Nepal 124 186 380 690
5 Bangladesh Bangladesh 86 210 493 789
6 Bhutan Bhutan 2 23 66 91
7 Maldives Maldives 1 3 13 17
Former member 1
N/a Afghanistan Afghanistan 21 28 79 128

1 Left SAOC and joined CAG.

Medals by year

Rank NOC 1984 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1999 2004 2006 2010 2016 2019
Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze
1 India India 44 28 16 61 32 14 91 45 19 61 43 20 64 59 41 60 46 31 106 60 19 102 58 37 103 57 32 118 69 47 90 55 30 188 92 28 175 92 45
2 Pakistan Pakistan 5 3 2 21 26 12 16 36 14 42 33 22 28 32 25 23 22 20 10 33 36 10 36 30 38 55 50 43 44 71 19 25 36 12 35 57 30 41 57
3 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 7 11 19 2 7 9 4 7 23 6 10 21 44 34 40 20 22 39 16 25 53 16 42 62 17 32 57 37 63 78 16 35 54 25 64 98 40 84 128
4 Nepal Nepal 4 12 8 1 9 22 2 7 33 1 13 32 2 8 29 1 6 15 4 8 16 31 10 24 7 6 20 9 15 31 8 9 19 3 23 35 51 60 96
5 Bangladesh Bangladesh 2 8 13 9 17 38 3 20 31 1 12 24 4 8 28 11 19 32 7 17 34 2 10 35 3 13 24 3 15 34 18 23 56 4 16 55 19 32 89
6 Bhutan Bhutan 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 1 5 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 6 7 1 3 2 0 3 10 0 2 3 0 1 15 0 7 13
7 Maldives Maldives 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 4
Former Member
N/a Afghanistan Afghanistan Not part of SAOC 1 3 28 6 7 16 7 9 16 7 9 19 Not part of SAOC

Performance table

Country Top Ranked Second Ranked Third Ranked
India India 13 times N/a N/a
Pakistan Pakistan N/a 7 times 4 times
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka N/a 4 times 7 times
Nepal Nepal N/a 2 times N/a
Bangladesh Bangladesh N/a N/a 2 times

South Asian Beach Games

Edition Year Host city Host nation Top Placed Team
I 2011 Hambantota Sri Lanka  India (IND)

South Asian Winter Games

Edition Year Host Cities Host nation Top Placed Team
I 2011[17] Dehradun and Auli India  India (IND)

See also

References

  1. ^ It will be South Asian Games Archived 2010-06-04 at the Wayback Machine.Rediff news.April 2, 2004.
  2. ^ Games page Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine of the website of the Olympic Council of Asia; retrieved 2010-07-09.
  3. ^ "OCA » Kathmandu 1984". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  4. ^ "OCA » Dhaka 1985". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  5. ^ "OCA » Calcutta 1987". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  6. ^ "OCA » Islamabad 1989". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  7. ^ "OCA » Colombo 1991". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  8. ^ "OCA » Dhaka 1993". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  9. ^ "OCA » Madras 1995". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  10. ^ "OCA » Kathmandu 1999". Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  11. ^ "OCA » Islamabad 2004". Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  12. ^ "OCA » Colombo 2006". Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  13. ^ "OCA » Dhaka 2010". Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  14. ^ "Home". southasiangames2016.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  15. ^ "Home". 13sagnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-17. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  16. ^ "South Asian Games Postponed Again: Rescheduled to 2027". english.adhadhu.com. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  17. ^ "South Asian Winter Games to have two opening and closing". The Times of India. 2010-11-25. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  • South Asian Games – official website (archived)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Asian_Games&oldid=1331716413"