| Abbreviation | SAG |
|---|---|
| Motto | Peace, Prosperity Progress |
| First event | 1984 South Asian Games,Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Occur every | Four years |
| Last event | 2019 South Asian Games,Kathmandu andPokhara, Nepal |
| Next event | 2027 South Asian Games, 4 host cities, Pakistan |
| Purpose | Multi-sport event for nations inSouth Asia |
TheSouth Asian Games is a quadrennialmulti-sport event held among athletes fromSouth Asia. TheSouth Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namelyBangladesh,Bhutan,India,Maldives,Nepal,Pakistan, andSri Lanka.Afghanistan had participated in the Games four times, but left theSAOC after participating in2016.
The first South Asian Games were hosted byKathmandu,Nepal in 1984. From 1984 to 1987 they were held every year except 1986, as it was a year ofCommonwealth Games andAsian 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 ofOlympic Games. TheXIII South Asian Games was held atKathmandu,Pokhara andJanakpur from 1 December to 10 December 2019.
The South Asian Games is one of five subregional Games of theOlympic Council of Asia. The others areCentral Asian Games,East Asian Youth Games,Southeast Asian Games, andWest Asian Games.[2]
| Edition | Year | Host Cities | Host nation | Nations | Sports | Events | Top Nation | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984 | Kathmandu | 7 | 5 | 62 | [3] | ||
| 2 | 1985 | Dhaka | 7 | 7 | 94 | [4] | ||
| 3 | 1987 | Calcutta | 7 | 10 | 116 | [5] | ||
| 4 | 1989 | Islamabad | 7 | 10 | 114 | [6] | ||
| 5 | 1991 | Colombo | 7 | 10 | 142 | [7] | ||
| 6 | 1993 | Dhaka | 7 | 11 | 115 | [8] | ||
| 7 | 1995 | Madras | 7 | 14 | 143 | [9] | ||
| 8 | 1999 | Kathmandu | 7 | 12 | 163 | [10] | ||
| 9 | 2004 | Islamabad | 8 | 15 | 170 | [11] | ||
| 10 | 2006 | Colombo | 8 | 20 | 197 | [12] | ||
| 11 | 2010 | Dhaka | 8 | 23 | 158 | [13] | ||
| 12 | 2016 | Guwahati Shillong | 8 | 22 | 226 | [14] | ||
| 13 | 2019 | Kathmandu Pokhara Janakpur | 7 | 26 | 317 | [15] | ||
| 14 | 2027 | Lahore Islamabad Faisalabad Karachi | 7 | 37 | TBD |
Following 29 sports have been competed in South Asian Games history till latest edition:
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1263 | 736 | 379 | 2378 | ||
| 2 | 297 | 421 | 432 | 1150 | ||
| 3 | 250 | 436 | 681 | 1367 | ||
| 4 | 124 | 186 | 380 | 690 | ||
| 5 | 86 | 210 | 493 | 789 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 23 | 66 | 91 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 17 | ||
| Former member1 | ||||||
| — | 21 | 28 | 79 | 128 | ||
| Rank | NOC | 1984 | 1985 | 1987 | 1989 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995 | 1999 | 2004 | 2006 | 2010 | 2016 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| — | Not part ofSAOC | 1 | 3 | 28 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 19 | Not part ofSAOC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Top Ranked | Second Ranked | Third Ranked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 times | — | — | |
| — | 7 times | 4 times | |
| — | 4 times | 7 times | |
| — | 2 times | — | |
| — | — | 2 times |
| Edition | Year | Host city | Host nation | Top Placed Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 2011 | Hambantota |
| Edition | Year | Host Cities | Host nation | Top Placed Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 2011[16] | Dehradun andAuli |
|
|
|
|