South Asian Federation [SAF] Games


The biennial South Asian Federation Games (SAF Games) is a multi-sport event first held in 1984 in Nepal. They are hosted in a south Asian country by any of the SAARC members.

The idea of SAF games was initiated in 1981 and was initially planned to be an annual event but could not be held every year due to various reasons. The participating nations are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The SAF Games are yet to stabilize into being held regularly. The 1997 event was postponed until 1999, the 2001 event postponed several times, finally being staged in 2004 and the 2005 event postponed until 2006. From the latter date the event will be retitled the South Asian Games.

Track and field, swimming, field hockey, football, kabaddi and other smaller team sports are included in the games.

SAF NEWS


All-time medal table in SAF Games

Rank Country Participated Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 India 11 900 542 286 1728
2 Pakistan 11 311 375 336 1022
3 Sri Lanka 11 185 288 455 928
4 Nepal 11 76 99 238 413
5 Bangladesh 11 63 162 347 572
6 Afghanistan 2 13 16 34 64
7 Bhutan 11 2 15 38 55
8 Maldives 11 0 1 8 9

Venues of the SAF Games

Year Games Host City Country
1984 I Kathmandu Nepal
1985 II Dhaka Bangladesh
1987 III Calcutta India
1989 IV Islamabad Pakistan
1991 V Colombo Sri Lanka
1993 VI Dhaka Bangladesh
1995 VII Madras India
1999 VIII Kathmandu Nepal
2004 IX Islamabad Pakistan
2006 X Colombo Sri Lanka
2010 XI Dhaka Bangladesh
2015 XII Guwahati-Shillong India
2017 XIII Kathmandu Nepal
SOUTH ASIAN FEDERATION GAMES