South Asian Games


The South Asian Games, and formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games is a biennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council, formed in 1983. Currently, the SAOC comprises 7 member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan started participating in the SAF Games in 2004 and left the SAOC after participating in the 2016 edition.
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, it was decided in the 32nd meeting of South Asian Sports Council to rename the games from South Asian Federation Games to South Asian Games as the officials believed the word Federation was diminishing the emphasis on event and acting as a barrier in attracting crowd. These Games are often hyped 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 the Central Asian Games, the East Asian Youth Games, the Southeast Asian Games, and the West Asian Games.

List of South Asian Games

EditionYearHost City/CitiesHost NationNationsSportsEvents
11984Kathmandu7562
21985Dhaka7794
31987Calcutta710116
41989Islamabad710114
51991Colombo710142
61993Dhaka711115
71995Madras714143
81999Kathmandu712163
92004Islamabad815170
102006Colombo820197
112010Dhaka823158
122016Guwahati/Shillong822226
132019Kathmandu/Pokhara726317
142021Lahore

Sports

Following 28 sports were competed in South Asian Games history till latest edition:
As of the conclusion of the 2019 South Asian Games.
CountryTop Placed TeamSecond-Placed TeamThird-Placed Team
13 times––
–7 times4 times
–4 times7 times
–2 times–
––2 times

All-time medal table

As of the conclusion of the 2019 South Asian Games.
RankNOCParticipatedGoldSilverBronzeTotal
11312747443902408
2133604584571275
3132604446901394
413130182367679
51387210491788
64202654100
7132236691
813141318

Other Games

South Asian Beach Games

South Asian Winter Games