The largest sporting event in South Asia, the South Asian Games, has been scheduled to be held in Pakistan in March next year.

According to reports from various South Asian media outlets, the South Asian Games are now set to take place from March 23 to 31, 2027. This decision was reportedly finalized during a meeting held on the sidelines of the 46th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia, which took place on January 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Reports indicate that all seven South Asian nations, including the Maldives, participated in the meeting. The session was chaired by Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck, the Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia for South Asia.

The South Asian Games in Pakistan were originally scheduled for 2023, with events planned to be hosted in Lahore, Islamabad, and Faisalabad. However, the games have faced repeated postponements since then due to various reasons.

The most recent attempt was to hold the games from January 23 to 31 of this year. To facilitate this, Pakistan formed a special committee involving senior government officials and the President of the Olympic Committee, Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, to consult with the government.

While reports suggest the committee worked on securing the necessary budget, some media outlets noted that the proposal to postpone the games further came from the government.

The last edition of the South Asian Games was held in 2019 in Pokhara, Nepal. Subsequent efforts to organize the games in 2021 were unsuccessful due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ongoing geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan also cast a shadow on the preparations; media reports suggest that India's participation will only be confirmed following a specific decision by its government.

Pakistan has previously hosted the South Asian Games in 1989 and 2004. For the upcoming edition, member nations have consulted and agreed to include 27 sporting disciplines.