{
  "id": 3551584,
  "title": "Pakistan To Host South Asian Games 2026 In Islamabad, Lahore & Peshawar From April 3",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/pakistan-to-host-south-asian-games-2026-in-islamabad-lahore-peshawar",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-26T16:25:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/pakistan-to-host-south-asian-games-2026-in-islamabad-lahore-peshawar-from-april-3"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Pakistan will host the 14th South Asian Games from April 3 to 11, 2026, after a six-year delay. The decision was made during an executive committee meeting of the South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC) in Islamabad, chaired by Arif Saeed, the president of both the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the SAOC. The Games, which were initially scheduled for 2021, have undergone several postponements due to various reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic. They will now be the first South Asian Games to be held in Peshawar, 23 years after Islamabad hosted the event in 2004. The event will span 9 days and will feature 28 sports with 346 medal events, attracting over 3,200 athletes and 4,000 foreign visitors. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has already approved the budget for the Games, which will be released next week. While India’s representative attended the meeting via video link, there is no confirmation from India regarding their participation in the Games, despite the Indian representative's endorsement of the dates.",
  "summary": "Karachi, Aug 26: Pakistan will host the 14th edition of the South Asian Games from April 3 to 11 next year in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar after a delay of six years. In a recent meeting held in Islamabad, South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC) approved the dates and venues of the multi-sporting event of the South Asian region. The Games were initially to be held in 2021, but postponed several times…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}