Gandhinagar: Gujarat will host the national games for the first time during 27 September to 10 October this year. Making this announcement, the Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel thanked IOA (Indian Olympic Association) for accepting the State’s proposal in this regard quickly. As many as 7,000 sports persons from across the country will participate in the national games. Gujarat is aiming to apply for hosting the Olympics games in future. Hosting the national games will be the first step towards this. DeshGujarat

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in a tweet said – “I am happy to announce that Gujarat will organise the National Games between September 27 and October 10. I thank the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) for quick acceptance of Gujarat’s proposal”.

“When Gujarat has been equipped with world class sports infrastructure and a renewed enthusiasm towards sports is visible among the people of Gujarat, the state will leave no stone unturned to make the national games best till date,” the CM added in another tweet.

An official release said that the last edition of the National Games was organised in Kerala in 2015. Due to various reasons, including the pandemic, the games are now being organised after a gap of seven years. “Gujarat government, noticing this long gap in conduct of these games and postponement of the 2022 Asian Games, approached IOA to be the host to the 36th National Games,” the release said.

The release added that more than 7,000 sportspersons will showcase their might in 34 disciplines, including athletics, hockey, football, volleyball, judo, kabaddi, kho-kho etc. “…Gujarat will enhance and optimally utilise its existing infrastructure to organise these games. This way, the infrastructure created and enhanced will continue to be utilised by the state’s sportspersons on a regular basis,” the release said.

According to the Gujarat government, the games will be organized across six cities of Gujarat. The 36th national games will have athletics, hokey, football, volleyball, loan tennis, table tennis, judo, kho kho, kushti, kabaddi, malkham, yogasan etc 34 types of games.