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Kathmandu Wednesday December 26, 2001 Paush 11, 2058.
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SAF Games’ future hinges
on SAARC Summit’s success
By Purushottam Kattel
KATHMANDU, Dec 25 – A pall of gloom had
descended over Nepali sportsmen and women when the 9th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games
were postponed. South Asia’s biggest biannual sports event, earlier scheduled to take
place in Islamabad on October 9-15 were called off, owing to security concerns in Pakistan
in the wake of September 11 terror attacks and the United States’ military campaign
in neighbouring Afghanistan.
That led the National Sports Council (NSC) to
call off all the closed camp training and send back players.
The Games organising committee, however, showing
firm determination not to let the event get away from their hand, on October 7 proposed a
new date for the Games – March 30 to April 8, 2002.
As the year 2001 inches close to its dusk, the
players are anxiously awaiting to resume their training as much as the dawn of new year,
recalling vows from country’s sports administrators.
Member-secretary of NSC, Binod Shankar Palikhe,
while informing the players the Games’ postponement on September 24, had said:
"Due to the Royal tragedy we failed to carry out a full-fledged training for the SAF
Games. We’ve got to prepare at least 100 days ahead of the Games if we are to live up
to our medal hopes.
He had further assured, "NSC will make sure
the players’ training begins well in advance once the new dates are fixed."
But players and coaches are still waiting those
words to materialise. Karate coach Hira Singh Dangol says that their Central Dojo is
waiting passively to carryout the training due to the problems of Dashrath Stadium
regarding security concern.
With the state of emergency in place, the air of
uncertainty surrounds the council when the Games’ proposed date is less than 100 days
away.
"Nobody can say whether the SAF Games will
take place or not, in this situation," Palikhe shakes his head. "We are not even
in a position to invest huge amount of budget on the players for the preparation of that
Games, whose future itself is in doubt."
NSC had spent over Rs 14.12 million on the
training of the Nepali team before it called off the closed camps.
However, president of Nepal Olympic Committee
(NOC) Rukma Shamsher Rana is positive on Pakistan successfully holding the SAF Games.
"Unless there is any issue between the two countries, I don’t think the event
will be washed up," Rana said.
"I have held talks with the Pakistani
party," he added, "and I found them very keen to hold the Games."
Talking about NOC’s role on the
preparations, Rana said that the committee had already invited all the concerned
associations to submit proposals for small projects enabling them to go for proper
training. "Now we are waiting those associations to bid."
As for now the sports authorities, like everyone
else, are setting their eyes on the upcoming 11th SAARC Summit in the capital from January
4-6. "If the SAARC Summit shows green light to the Games, we will certainly set up
the training," Palikhe said. "Once we have that, we won’t have to worry at
all since our team selection is already complete."
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