South Asian Games

The South Asian Games (SAF Games, SAG, or SA games, and formerly known as South Asian Federation Games) are a biennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), formed in 1983. At present, SAG are joined by eight members namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the SAF Games in 2004 and left the organization in 2016.

South Asian Games (SAG)

Logo of South Asia Olympic Council
Abbreviation	SAG
Motto	Peace, Prosperity and Progress
First event	September 1984 Kathmandu, Nepal
Occur every	3 years
Last event	1-10 December 2019 Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur, Nepal
Next event	2021 Pakistan

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.[1] 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.