The formal inauguration of the 9th National Games is being held today at Pokhara Stadium, Kaski of Gandaki Province. Although many games have already begun, the official inauguration was scheduled for Friday, October 14.
The National Games is being held in Pokhara after 39 years after the second National Games took place here in 1984.
Vice President of the National Sports Council, Nanda Bahadur Pun, will perform the inauguration ceremony between special programs at 3:30 pm.
The Games will conclude on October 20 and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will address the closing ceremony of the event, according to National Sports Council.
The Games are played in 8 different districts of the Gandaki Province with 36 competition games and 2 exhibition games during the event. 6,157 players will compete for 404 gold medals during the Games.
Similarly, athletes from 11 different teams will compete for 409 Silver and 601 Bronze trophies. The 11 teams comprise of 7 teams from each province and four departmental teams – Tribhuvan Army club team, Nepal Police Club team, Armed Police Force Club team and Non-Resident Nepali club team.
The National Sports Council and Rastriya Banijya Bank have reached an agreement to sponsor the Games.
RBB, a government-owned commercial bank of Nepal, will provide the NSC with three million rupees to organise the Games in return to be allowed to use their advertisement banners and hoarding boards at Games venues. Meanwhile, the government has allocated Rs. 600 million for the nation’s biggest sporting event.