The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

held among the athletes from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), formed in 1983. Currently, the SAOC comprises 7 member countries, namely

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, and Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

participated 4 times in the SAF Games since 2004, but left the SAOC after participating in the 2016th edition and joined

CAOC Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs) are multinational headquarters for tactical and operational control of NATO Air Forces below the Joint Force Command level''. They operate within the NATO Integrated Air Defense System (NATINADS) framework. ...

. The first South Asian Games were hosted by

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

in 1984. From 1984 to 1987 they were held every year except 1986, as it was a year of

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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 the South Asian Federation Games to the South Asian Games as officials believed the word ''

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

'' was diminishing the emphasis on the event and acting as a barrier to attracting spectators. These Games are often hyped as the South Asian version of

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. The XIII South Asian Games was held at

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, Pokhara and

Janakpur Janakpurdham or Janakpur ( ne, जनकपुर, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha District, Madhesh Province, Nepal. The city is a hub for religious and cultural tourism. A headquarter of Dhanusha district, ''Janakpur'' is also the capi ...

from 1 December to 10 December 2019. The South Asian Games is one of five subregional Games of the

Olympic Council of Asia The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. The current Acting President is Raja Randhir Singh, substituting Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah. The headquarters ...

(OCA). The others are the

Central Asian Games The Central Asian Games (CAG) is an international multi-sport event organised by the Central Asian Olympic Committee (CAOC) and held every two years since 1995 among athletes from Central Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council ...

, the

East Asian Youth Games The East Asian Youth Games (EAYG) is a continental multi-sport event organised by the East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) and held every four years since 2019 among athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asi ...

, the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

(SEA Games), and the

West Asian Games The West Asian Games (also known as the WAG) was a multi-sport event held every four years among the athletes from West Asia. The West Asian Games was first organised in Tehran, Iran and was considered as the first of its kind. The success of th ...

List of South Asian Games

Sports

Following 28 sports have been competed in South Asian Games history till latest edition: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Overall performance

As of the conclusion of the

2019 South Asian Games The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was ...

All-time medal table

As of the conclusion of the

. (''Updated after doping results)'' ¹Left SAOC and joined CAG.

Original Articles

# India at the South Asian Games # Pakistan at the South Asian Games # Sri Lanka at the South Asian Games # Nepal at the South Asian Games # Bangladesh at the South Asian Games # Afghanistan at the South Asian Games # Bhutan at the South Asian Games # Maldives at the South Asian Games

Detailed Medal Table by Years

''Note : Medals not updated in official websites after doping results

Related Games

South Asian Beach Games

South Asian Winter Games

References

External links

SAG official website
{{Sports at the South Asian Games Asian international sports competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1984 Multi-sport events in Asia Sport in South Asia