Tk6 lakhs for gold, Tk3 lakhs for silver

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has announced the amount of reward money for the medal winners of the upcoming South Asian Games 2019 with the individual gold, silver and bronze medalists in Nepal promised Tk6 lakhs, Tk3 lakhs and Tk1 lakh respectively.

Mohammad Jahid Ahsan Russel, the State Minister for Youth and Sports, disclosed the matter during a view-exchange meeting with the journalists ahead of the SAG2019 at the National Sports Council conference hall Thursday.

“We have decided to reward those who perform well in the South Asian Games 2019. Tk1.5 crores have been allotted for them. The gold medalists in the individual events will be awarded Tk3 lakhs each. The silver and bronze winners will get Tk3 lakhs and Tk1 lakh respectively. These gifts would be handed over to the athletes through the Bangladesh Olympic Association,” said Russel.

For the champions as well as the gold medalists in the team events, each player will get Tk1 lakh while Tk50,000 and Tk30,000 would be given to the silver and bronze winners respectively, added the State Minister.

The Bangladesh Olympic Association is hopeful the country can win more medals at the upcoming 13th South Asian Games than in the previous edition, where Bangladesh won 75 medals, including four golds.https://t.co/JkD0vnPpRL#OLYMPIC #ASSOCIATION #OLYMPICASSOCIATION #BOA #SAGAMES

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 23, 2019

A total of 462 athletes from Bangladesh in 25 disciplines will battle for a tally of 1,119 medals, including 319 golds, 319 silvers and 481 bronzes. 

The gold medalists were earlier rewarded by a flat by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the last edition in 2016 where the country won four golds, 15 silvers and 56 bronzes.

“It’s like Olympic for the athletes in our region because not everyone gets the opportunity to participate in the Olympics or Commonwealth Games. The way they prepared last six months and if everything goes well, I believe we will win more medals this time,” said Russel.

Meanwhile, the 13th edition of the region’s sporting extravaganza will be held in Kathmandu and Pokara from December 1-10 and feature a total of 26 disciplines with the participation of around 5,000 athletes from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh.