The 10th National Games, which was postponed for the fourth time due to accusations and counter-accusations between the federal and provincial governments, has once again become uncertain. The dispute between the two governments became public on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the federal government's Youth and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta and the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Madhav Prasad Chaulagain had reached Surkhet to observe the preparations being made in Karnali.

After inspecting the provincial stadium and other structures, they reached Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel for discussions. The controversy and debate that took place at the meeting at the Chief Minister's and Council of Ministers' Office is now viral on social media. In which Chief Minister Kandel accused the federal government of delaying the procurement process, while the federal government ministers accused the provincial stadium, which has not been completed by 1 percent, of being left behind due to non-payment of payment, and of not being able to appoint officials of the Karnali Provincial Sports Development Council.

The competition, which was initially scheduled for Mangsir 2081, has been scheduled for the second time from Chaitra 23 to 30, 2081, and the third time from Jestha 3 to 10, 2082, and the fourth time from Falgun 1 to 7. Due to the failure to agree on a share-sharing agreement between the ruling Congress and the UML, the Karnali Provincial Sports Development Council has been without a member secretary and other office bearers since Poush 2081. The process for which has just started, and the preliminary merit list of 10 out of 21 people who submitted applications for member-secretary has been published on Wednesday. Their interviews will be held on Magh 3, said Dholak Raj Dhakal, Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Coordinator of the Member Secretary Recommendation Committee.

The provincial government had started the construction of the provincial stadium on an area of ​​about 9 bigahs with an investment of Rs 1.59 billion 4.7 million since Mangsir 2078 as the first project of the province's pride. Almost 99 percent of the work has been completed and only 1 percent is left.

The contractor company MCGSL JV has stopped the work saying that almost 90 million rupees have not been paid. Due to which the completed structures have also been left stranded. The government plans to host the main games of the 10th National Games in the stadium.

The federal government has allocated Rs 540 million for the 10th National Games. National Sports Council Member-Secretary Ramcharitra Mehta also proposed to postpone the date during a discussion in Surkhet on Tuesday. According to him, the procurement of sports equipment has not yet begun.

‘When purchasing sports equipment, we are forced to wait for the 35 days specified by the Public Procurement Act,’ he said. ‘It was seen that the technical evaluation and procurement work also took more time, which created the risk of the competition not being held on the scheduled date.’ After Karnali Chief Minister Kandel repeatedly reiterated that the competition could not be held without a clear plan, the group discussion became inconclusive.

Volleyball coach Sudhir Shah said that the players were disappointed after the competition was in limbo. ‘The provincial government has also not done the internal work required by the organizers due to the lack of participation in the Sports Council, and it is not certain when the stadium will be handed over,’ he said. ‘The federal government has delayed the purchase of materials even more. Players are frustrated after the date has been postponed repeatedly.’

Taekwondo player Sunil KC said that the risk of being deprived of performing in the national competition to be held in his own province has increased. ‘The enthusiasm for regular practice has decreased due to the repeated postponement of the competition,’ he said. ‘We have to wait repeatedly to show our capabilities.’ Social Development Minister Ghanshyam Bhandari said that the process of appointing member-secretaries will be completed within a week and the remaining work on the provincial stadium will be resumed.