The National Sports Council has announced insurance coverage for the participants of the 13th South Asian Games against possible injuries. Nepal is playing host to the event from December 1 to 10 in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur.

The foreign athletes and officials will each have insurance coverage of Rs500,000, and Rs1 million each for Nepali athletes and officials. The Games feature 26 disciplines.

The council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IME General Insurance Limited, the insurance partner of the Games, to that effect on Monday. The insurance scheme covers any accident-related injuries during the 10-day event.

“The safety and security of the athletes and officials are of paramount importance for the Games’ success,” said Ramesh Kumar Silwal, member secretary of the council and coordinator of the Games executive committee, during the signing ceremony at the council on Monday.

The regional sporting extravaganza brings together around 6,000 athletes and officials from seven participating countries. Nepal is fielding 597 athletes at the Games.

“We are yet to figure out the exact number of Nepali officials, but there will be around 197 of them,” said Ganga Bahadur Thapa, coordinator of the Games technical committee.

The country’s apex sports governing body had insured participating athletes and officials against injuries, albeit at austere scale, during the 8th National Games held in Province 5 from April 18 to 24 this year.

President of the Nepal National and International Players’ Association, Deepak Shrestha, has welcomed the move as a “commendable initiative.”

Shrestha, who had won two gold medals in karate in the South Asian Games, however, wishes that the regional event passes without any untoward incidents and none of the participating athletes and officials has to make an insurance claim.

“The insurance amount has been revised now. Besides providing respite to the participating athletes, such insurance policy also reduces the burden on the state coffers.”

Recalling incidents during the 8th National Games, he called on the organisers to ensure insurance coverage for injured athletes without procedural hassles during their treatment.

“The amount of insurance coverage during the National Games was quite low, and a few injured athletes had run short of funds during medical treatment,” Shrestha continued. “We extended financial support to them for timely treatment and recovery.” Former Nepali taekwondo star Deepak Bista shares Shrestha’s sentiments.

“When athletes represent their country at the international level, they must be able to play without fear.” said Bista, winner of two Asian Games bronze medals.

He is the lone Nepali athlete to win four consecutive gold medals at the South Asian Games—1999 (Kathmandu), 2003 (Islamabad), 2006 (Colombo) and 2010 (Dhaka).

“When we were playing, we never had such facilities. Injured athletes had to run from pillar to post for government support for treatment,” Bista, who suffered from severe injuries during the 2002 South Asian Games in Islamabad and 2008 Olympic Games, added. “Now with the insurance policy in place, it should boost athletes’ morale.”