ISLAMABAD, 29 March 2004 — The ninth South Asian Federation (SAF) games got under way here yesterday with three football matches, an official said, as athletes prepared for the official opening ceremony due to be held today.
Athletes from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are due to compete in 15 disciplines between March 29 and April 7.
“All arrangements have been finalized for a spectacular display of sports with perfect security arrangements,” director information SAF secretariat Syed Mujhtaba Tirmizi told AFP.
The games will be opened by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali.
Pakistan handed a 3-0 defeat to Afghanistan on Saturday in a preliminary round football match played in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Meanwhile, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, India and defending champions Bangladesh played a 0-0 draw, and a game between Bhutan and Nepal also ended in a goalless draw.
Lieutenant General Arif Hassan, chairman of the SAF Games 2004 organizing committee, said earlier he hoped all participants would embrace the event’s “rising above” slogan to forget the issues that divide nations and compete in a spirit of true sportsmanship.
India’s participation in the games is the most significant contribution as it follows a thaw in relations with Pakistan, which began last year, and India’s first cricket tour of its neighbor in 14 years, which is currently under way.
