The 10th National Games, which was postponed four times due to the lack of a stadium, is once again in limbo.
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Only one percent of the construction of the Karnali Stadium, which is considered the main venue for the 10th National Games to be held in Karnali, is left. It has been two years since the contractor company stopped working on the stadium, which is about 99 percent complete. But the contract has neither been extended nor canceled. Due to which the deadline for the 10th National Games has been postponed repeatedly and has become uncertain.
The stadium is the first pride project of the Karnali provincial government. In 2078 Mangsir, MAC/GSL JV signed an agreement with the Karnali Provincial Sports Development Council for the construction of the stadium, which is spread over an area of about 9 bighas, for Rs 1.59 billion. The deadline for the stadium, which was started with the aim of completing the construction within 30 months, was until Jestha 2081. However, after the contractor company requested it, citing problems such as the Corona pandemic, shortage of construction materials, and lack of skilled manpower, the deadline was extended for one year in 2081 Mangsir.
‘But the term of the then member secretary and other office bearers ended during that period. According to the public procurement regulations, the contractor side should have requested the council for an extension of the deadline with reasons within 6 months of the expiry of the deadline,’ said Devi Prasad Paudyal, Information Officer at the Ministry of Social Development. ‘When the council was dissolved, the contractor side was not able to submit an application for an extension of the deadline. Now, 16 months have passed since the expiry of the deadline, so there is a legal obstacle to terminating the contract and extending the deadline.’
According to him, the remaining work includes blackening the entrance of the stadium, final painting, and connecting electricity and drinking water. He informed that the contractor company has yet to receive payment of about Rs 90 million after the completion of the work.
The work on the provincial stadium has been stalled after the Karnali Provincial Sports Development Council has been without leadership for a long time due to the failure to agree on a division of labor between the ruling UML and the Congress. The term of the then member secretary of the council, Vishwamitra Sanjyal, and other office bearers ended on 2081 Paush 6. But after almost 15 months, on Chaitra 12, the Karnali government appointed Rabindra Chand and other office bearers as member secretaries. ‘Since my appointment, I have been trying to complete the work of the stadium quickly, discussions have been held with various bodies repeatedly,’ he said, ‘We have not yet reached a conclusion on the extension of the deadline.’
The stadium, built according to FIFA’s international standards, has a parapet that can accommodate about 10,000 spectators, while the stadium, which has an 8-lane synthetic track according to IAF standards, has media, referee, changing, refresh and medical rooms, physiotherapy, VIP waiting rooms, and underground parking, said Member Secretary Chand.
According to him, a multi-purpose covered hall with a swimming pool and a capacity of 1,500 spectators has been built inside the stadium. He informed that volleyball, handball and other games can be played in it. According to him, 40 shutters have also been removed in the stadium for commercial purposes. The Karnali government is preparing to play 24 out of 35 games of the national competition in this stadium.
The federal government has been postponing the date for the national games four times. Initially, the date of the competition was fixed for Mangsir 1 to 8, 2081, the second time for Chaitra 23 to 30, 2081, and the third time for Jestha 3 to 10, 2082. During the tenure of the then Sports Minister Bablu Gupta, it was decided to conduct the competition for the fourth time from Falgun 1 to 7. However, due to the election of members of the House of Representatives, the government decided to hold the competition at a suitable time after the election on Falgun 13, 6 days later than the scheduled date. But the new date has not been fixed yet.
Taekwondo player Nissan Khadka from Surkhet said that they were disappointed when the competition was postponed repeatedly. ‘The National Games are a great opportunity for the players, we want to show our game,’ he said, ‘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 the district-level competition has stopped. ‘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 the province’s activity nor the local government’s concern, it seems that Karnali will lose medals in many games even if it is played in its own province.’ Social Development Minister Ghanshyam Bhandari claimed that the remaining work on the provincial stadium will be completed within a week.
