After the federal government repeatedly postponed the dates of the national sports competition, even one percent of the work on the Karnali Stadium has remained incomplete.

The Karnali government had started the construction of the Karnali Provincial Stadium on 20 Mangsir 2078 as its first pride project. The provincial government started the work on the stadium after it was decided to hold the 10th National Sports Competition in Karnali. Almost 99 percent of the work of the stadium, which was started with an investment of 1.59 billion rupees, has been completed.

Now only cleaning and general painting work are left in the stadium. Half a dozen sports fields in Surkhet, including the provincial stadium, which is considered the main venue of the competition, are waiting for the 10th National Competition. But it is not yet decided when the competition will be held.

The work of the stadium, which can accommodate about 10,000 spectators, is in the final stages, while the construction of the Chisapani Football Ground, Kalungchowk Rugby Ground and the cricket ground in the provincial stadium complex have been completed in the provincial capital Birendranagar. But the date has been postponed several times due to allegations and counter-allegations from the state and federal governments.

Volleyball referee Sudhir Shah said that the date of the competition has been postponed several times due to the federal government's delay in calling tenders for the purchase of necessary materials and the state government's delay in appointing officials of the Karnali Sports Council. 'On the one hand, the work of purchasing sports materials and uniforms has been postponed, while the council, which handles all the administrative work of the competition, is without officials,' he said. 'Both governments want to take control of the national competition, but both are focused on their own interests.'

According to him, due to the lack of formation of the council, about Rs 90 million has not been paid for the Karnali Stadium, which is considered the main venue of the competition. He said that the contractor company MACGSL JV has stopped one percent of the work due to non-payment. Taekwondo coach Bhuwan Thapa says that the suspension of the stadium work has increased the risk of the completed structures becoming dilapidated.

The term of the then member secretary Bishwamani Sanjyal and the office bearers expired on Poush 6 last year. About 5 months later, on Jestha 14, the Ministry of Social Development formed a 4-member recommendation committee under the coordination of the secretary of the ministry, Dholak Raj Dhakal, for the appointment of member secretaries. Out of the 21 people who applied for the post, the committee shortlisted 10 people. The committee recommended Rabindra Chand, Deepak Hamal and Pramod Hamal for the post of member secretaries on Magh 3. But the government has not yet been able to appoint a member secretary.

The players are also disappointed as the date of the national sports competition is uncertain. ‘National Games are a great opportunity for athletes, we want to show our game,’ said Taekwondo player Nishan Khadka from Surkhet, ‘But even when the National Games are about to be held in our own province, the provincial government is silent, there is neither training nor continuity of practice on the part of the government to encourage the players, how long will we continue to play practice games with our own investment?’

Volleyball player Yagya Oli, who has participated in the National Games before, said that even district-level competitions have stopped being held. ‘Right now, closed training should be held in almost all districts, practice games should also be played at the municipal level,’ he said, ‘There is neither activity of the province nor concern of the local government, it seems that Karnali will lose medals in many sports even if it is played in its own province.’

The federal government had initially fixed the dates of the competition for Mangsir 1 to 8, Chaitra 2081 to 30, and Jestha 3 to 10, Jestha 2082 to 10. During the tenure of the then Sports Minister Bablu Gupta, it was decided to hold the competition for the fourth time from Falgun 1 to 7. But due to preparations for the House of Representatives elections, the government decided to hold the competition at a suitable time after the elections on Falgun 13, 6 days after the scheduled date. But a new date has not been set yet. The players have become disappointed after the competition was postponed repeatedly.