The top bosses of the national Olympic bodies of eight South Asian countries will have a meeting in Guwahati on July 6 to decide on the dates of holding the 12th South Asian Games.
Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI that the Prime Minister's Office has given its official sanction of the SAG to be held in Guwahati and Shillong during the window of November 2015 to January 2016.
"The member countries formally confirmed the 12th SAG to be held in Guwahati and Shillong in the Executive Committee meeting on June 13 in Singapore. It was decided to set the ball rolling for the Games. So, there will be a meeting of the presidents and secretary generals of the national Olympic bodies of eight South Asian countries in Guwahati on July 6," Mehta, who attended the Singapore meeting, said.
"The PMO has given its official sanction to the Games in the window of November to January. So, the July 6 meeting in Guwahati will finalise the date of the Games during this window," he added.
Mehta said that the meeting in Guwahati will also decide on the number of disciplines to be included in the Games, besides other issues.
"As of now, the minimum number of disciplines is 22 but a final decision on this number will be taken in Guwahati. There will be other matters on the agenda concerning the hosting of the Games."
The budget for hosting the SAG, which is likely to be a 12-day affair, has been estimated at Rs 60-70 crore and the Sports Ministry will bear around 90 per cent of the cost.
The SAG would see participation from around 2,500 athletes from the eight member-countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The last edition of the SAG was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010.
