LAHORE: Around 62,000 educational institutions are expected to take part in the upcoming CM Punjab Youth Games, with more than five million athletes projected to compete and a registration target of 15 million people, Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi said on Friday.
Speaking at a review meeting at the National Hockey Stadium, the Director General described the Games as “the biggest sporting event in the history of Punjab province.”
Qureshi told the meeting that operational and organising committees had already been constituted for the smooth conduct of the event, and that online registration had commenced.
“The CM Punjab Youth Games would be organised with the support and cooperation of various departments and institutions of the Punjab government,” he said.
The scale of the coordination required is reflected in the attendance list. Director Admin Abid Shaukat and Deputy Director Zahoor Ahmed joined senior officials of the School Education, Higher Education, Literacy and Home departments in person, while all divisional and district sports officers across the province participated online.
Officials of the Punjab Information Technology Board briefed the meeting on the online registration process — a detail that signals a shift away from the paper-based entry systems that have historically slowed mass-participation events in the province.
Digital registration at the scale being targeted is not a routine undertaking. A 15 million registration goal would place the platform among the largest single-purpose public sign-up drives attempted by a provincial department, and its performance in the opening weeks is likely to determine whether participation targets are met.
The involvement of the School Education and Higher Education departments points to the delivery mechanism: institutions rather than individuals will carry much of the registration load. With roughly 62,000 institutions in scope, an average of fewer than 100 registrations per institution would clear the five million athlete mark.
That model has a track record in Punjab. Previous editions of provincial youth games have relied on school and college nomination to reach volume, with district sports offices handling verification and scheduling. What is new is the centralised digital layer and the explicit involvement of the Home Department, which typically indicates planning for venue security and crowd management across multiple districts simultaneously.
For Pakistan’s sporting bodies, mass-participation events serve a function beyond the medal table. District and divisional rounds are where selectors identify athletes who never surface through club systems, particularly in rural districts with limited access to organised coaching. A wider net at the entry stage generally produces a deeper pool at the top.
The Games also arrive at a point when provincial sports administration is being restructured more broadly, with the Sports Board Punjab having constituted an advisory board that includes university students for the first time.
Officials did not announce a competition calendar, venue list or disciplines at Friday’s meeting. Divisional and district sports officers have been brought into the planning loop, which suggests scheduling will be devolved to district level once registration figures stabilise.
The Director General said the event would be organised with departmental support across the Punjab government.
Registration details are being handled through the Punjab Information Technology Board.
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