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 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.
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.
At the 2010 South Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 6 to February 9. A total of 23 events were contested, of which 15 by male and 8 by female athletes.
At the 2006 South Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 23 August to 27 August 2006. A total of 35 events were contested, of which 20 by male and 15 by female athletes.
Athletics at the 2010 Asian Games was held in Guangzhou, China from 21 to 27 November 2010. A total of 47 events were contested – 24 by men and 23 by women – matching the Olympic athletics programme. The 42 track and field events on the programme were hosted at the Aoti Main Stadium while the marathons and racewalking competitions took place around the city's University Town. Sixteen Asian Games records were broken during the seven-day competition.
The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the four-day competition.
The 2012 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 15th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association. It took place from 9 to 12 June at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka – the same venue hosted the 2002 Asian Athletics Championships. Thirty-four nations took part in the event and over five hundred athletes participated. A total of 44 events were contested, with the events being evenly split between the genders.
The 2013 Asian Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the biennial athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, India between 3–7 July. Around 522 athletes from 42 nations competed at the event. It was the first time since 1989 that India had hosted the championships.
Hassan Saaid is a Maldivian athlete specialising in the sprinting events. He represented his country at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
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.
Cricket was included for the first time at the 2010 South Asian Games, hosted by Dhaka, Bangladesh. A men's 20-over tournament was played from 31 January to 7 February 2010.
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 held from 1–10 December 2019, coincidentally at the same time as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. The new dates were confirmed at the South Asian Olympic Council Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on 1 March 2019. The Dasarath Stadium hosted the opening ceremony along with the men's football tournament, with the stadium's renovation after the 2015 earthquake completed in under 10 months with an increased capacity of 20,000, along with the closing ceremony on 10 December.
The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the XVIII Asiad, is the largest sporting event in Asia governed by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It was held at Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia between 18 August – 2 September 2018, with 465 events in 40 sports and disciplines featured in the Games. This resulted in 465 medal sets being distributed.
Cricket at the 2019 South Asian Games was held in Twenty20 format in Kirtipur and Pokhara, Nepal between 2 and 9 December 2019. Cricket returned to the South Asian Games after a period of nine years. The men's tournament featured under-23 squads from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and senior squads from Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal. The women's event featured teams from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal. All matches in the men's event were played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. The women's event was played at the Pokhara Stadium.
Men's cricket at the 2019 South Asian Games was held in Kirtipur, Nepal from 3 to 9 December 2019. The men's tournament featured under-23 squads from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and senior squads from Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal. India and Pakistan did not participate.
Women's cricket at the 2019 South Asian Games was held in Pokhara, Nepal from 2 to 8 December 2019. The women's event featured teams from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal. Sri Lanka named an under-23 squad, while matches played between Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal were granted Women's Twenty20 International status. Matches were played at the Pokhara Stadium.
Maldives has participated all 13 editions of South Asian Games governed by South Asia Olympic Council. Maldives never hosted a single South Asian Games so far. At 13th South Asian Games, Maldives claimed its first ever gold. With that achievement Maldives became the last country to win a gold medal at the South Asian Games.
