The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's population and 5.21% of the global economy, as of 2021.
The South Asian Games, formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games, is a quadrennial 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. Currently, the SAOC comprises 7 member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan participated 4 times in the SAF Games since 2004, but left the SAOC after participating in the 2016 edition and joined CAOC.
The 2006 South Asian Games were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports.
The 1984 South Asian Games was the first edition of South Asian Games. It was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 17 to 23 September 1984.
The 1985 South Asian Games were held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 20 December to 26 December 1985.
The 1993 South Asian Games, officially the 6th South Asian Games, took place from December 20 to December 27, 1993, in Dhaka, Bangladesh and thus in SAF games history, Dhaka became the first city to host the event for second time.
The 1999 South Asian Games were held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 25 September to 4 October 1999. King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev declared the games open amidst a grand ceremony.
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia which is the regional subsidiary of South Asian Football Confederation, incorporated in 1997. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The South Asian Football Federation Championship, also known as SAFF Championship, is the main international association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). All eight teams are eligible to compete in tournament.
The 1989 South Asian Games, officially the IV South Asian Federation Games, were held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 20 October to 28 October 1989. Muhammad Ali appeared as a special guest at the closing ceremony.
The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times.
The Pakistan U-23 national football team is a youth football team operated under the Pakistan Football Federation. The team represents Pakistan in international youth football competitions in the Summer Olympics, AFC U-22 Asian Cup, Asian Games and the South Asian Games winning the 2004 and 2006 editions, as well as any other under-23 and under-22 international football tournaments, such as the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
Lieutenant-General (ret.) Syed Arif Hasan is a Pakistani sports administrator and retired three-star rank general officer in the Pakistan Army. He is the current president of the Pakistan Olympic Association. He was also elected unopposed as the Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia in 2007. He also served as chairman of organizing committee of 9th SAF Games Islamabad.
The 19th SAARC summit was a scheduled diplomatic conference which was originally planned to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 15–19 November 2016, but got cancelled after an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir. The summit was to be attended by the leaders of the eight SAARC member states and representatives of observers and guest states.
The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati on 5 February 2016. India continued its dominance in the game's medal tally with a staggering 308 medals including 188 gold medals.
The Bhutan national under-23 football team represents Bhutan in men's international under-23 football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in Bhutan, the Bhutan Football Federation, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Federation and the regional body the South Asian Football Federation. Bhutan have never attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games and their competitive matches have been restricted solely to the South Asian Games, where they made their debut in 2004.
The South Asian Games are a biennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asian Sports Council (SASC), formed in 1983. At present, SAG are joined by eight members namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
The 2024 South Asian Games, officially the XIV South Asian Games, will be a major multi-sport event which will be held in Pakistan,and will have Lahore, the capital of Punjab province as main host city. The cities of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Sialkot will give support to Lahore hosting some sports. The Games were scheduled to be held in March 2023, but later postponed to March 2024 by SAOC members at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This will mark the third time that Pakistan has hosted the South Asian Games since 1989 and 2004, and the first time that Pakistan has hosted the event outside of Islamabad.
Countries and territories in South Asia have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first South Asian country to report a confirmed case was Nepal, which documented its first case on 23 January 2020, in a man who had returned from Wuhan on 9 January. As of 2 July, at least one case of COVID-19 has been reported in every country in South Asia. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives have implemented lockdowns, Sri Lanka has responded with quarantine curfews while India and Nepal have declared a country-wide lockdown. Countries have also instituted various levels of restrictions on international travel, some countries have completely sealed off their land borders and grounded most international flights.
Islamabad, Pakistan 
Afghanistan 
