9th National Games: Sports infrastructure still a matter of concern

Preparations for the 9th national games scheduled to be held from coming October 14 to 20 are underway. However, infrastructure for some of the events is still a matter of concern more than three years since the tournament was decided to be held in Gandaki province.

It is not certain where some of the games will be played due to the lack of sports infrastructure for them. Infrastructure for swimming, shooting, hockey and rugby have not been built, despite budget allocation for the same.

As the date of the mega national event is approaching, there is concern among the sports officials and athletes over the possibility of some of the games taking place.

Land was arranged to build a swimming pool and shooting complex inside Pokhara Stadium. The National Sports Council provided the budget too. But despite enough time to build the infrastructure for these games, the work could not start.

The National Sports Council has formed various sub-committees to prepare for the 9th National Games including the playground management sub-committee. Rajesh Gurung, a member of the National Sports Council and the coordinator of the sports venue management sub-committee, said that they are worried about where to play the games as the infrastructure is not ready.

The committee is planning to use swimming pools of private schools and hotels in Pokhara for the swimming competitions.

Although there is a proposal to host games that lack infrastructure in Pokhara to be held in Kathmandu, the sports officials and athletes here are in favor of playing all the games in Gandaki.

Meanwhile, the Western Regional Sports Development Committee has said though there was enough time to build infrastructure for all the games in the province the work could not start due to the lack of assurance of the necessary budget.

Laxman Yogi, head of the office of the committee, said that although the budget was continuously allocated for swimming and shooting complex inside the Pokhara stadium in the previous two financial years, it was not enough and due to the lack of sources for additional budget substantial work could not be done.

Last year, the government allocated Rs 50 million for the swimming pool that would cost around Rs. 350 million, Yogi said, "The allocated budget remains insufficient and due to the lack of assurance of additional resources, the works including calling for bidding and tender from the contractors could not be carried forward."

According to the committee, as options are available only shooting competition may not be possible in the province. The sports venue management sub-committee is planning to decide the venue of various games by August 31. It will be decided which district will host which games considering facilities like accommodation, hospital, transportation and security along with the required sports infrastructure, NSC member Gurung said.

Most of the 36 games and two exhibition games of the 9th National Games will be held in Pokhara, the capital of the province. The organizers plan to play at least one game in each of the 11 districts of the province.

According to the Provincial Sports Council Gandaki, 11 teams including seven from the provinces, three departmental teams and one representing the Non-Resident Nepalis will participate in the 9th National Games.

Athletes will compete for a total of 407 gold medals in the tournament. Around 7,900 athletes and 9,000 sportspersons including coaches, team managers and referees are likely to take participate in the mega national event, according to Gandaki Province Sports Council Member Secretary Tej Bahadur Gurung.

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