Sports minister orders registration camps and outreach to madrassas and mosques as the CM Punjab Youth Games race a November 5 deadline, with the target already scaled back from 15 million
LAHORE: Registration for the CM Punjab Youth Games 2026 has reached 2.4 million children, Punjab Sports Minister Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said on Thursday, leaving organisers about 7.6 million short of their 10 million target with two weeks to go before the November 5 deadline.
Khokhar ordered all stakeholders to speed up sign-ups, set up registration camps and draw in children from madrassas and mosques, as well as public and private schools, at a meeting in Lahore attended by Sports Coordinator Malik Anoosh Khokhar, union council coordinators from Lahore and sports officers from Raiwind tehsil.
A steep climb to the deadline
Hitting 10 million would require roughly 540,000 new registrations a day until November 5, or about 3.8 million a week, more than one and a half times everything registered so far. Organisers also want 5 million children to compete on the ground.
The goal has already been trimmed. When the Sports Board Punjab reviewed preparations in early September, officials set a registration target of 15 million and projected more than 5 million athletes from about 62,000 educational institutions, describing the event as the biggest in the province’s history. The participation target is unchanged, but the registration goal has fallen by a third.
Khokhar said the Games were being expanded to the grassroots on Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s instructions so that children who play in streets and neighbourhoods also get a chance to show their talent. “The initiative aimed to bring young people to sports grounds, develop their abilities and encourage their participation in positive and constructive activities,” he said.
Madrassas, mosques and two Lahore constituencies
The minister told officials to encourage students of madrassas and children associated with mosques to take part, saying sport built discipline, teamwork, tolerance and self-confidence and should be open to children from every segment of society. Madrassa students have rarely been part of provincial sports programmes.
He asked coordinators to engage parents, schools and local representatives so that no child missed out, and directed officials to pay special attention to registering students from public and private schools in PP-167 and PP-168. PP-168 is the Lahore constituency Khokhar won in the 2024 election; PP-167 is also in Lahore. The release did not explain why those two constituencies were singled out, and the meeting was attended by Lahore and Raiwind officials only.
Prizes and sports cards
Khokhar said prizes worth millions of rupees would be awarded to outstanding performers and that Youth Sports Cards would be introduced soon to support young athletes and keep them engaged in sport. No details were given on how the cards would work or what benefits they would carry.
The Games form part of a broader sports push by the provincial government, which has announced plans for a Maryam Nawaz Sports City in Lahore and has brought students into sports policy-making. Cricket’s governing body has separately opened 20 regional under-19 academies to widen its talent net.
The registration figure on November 5 will be the first test. Organisers have yet to publish the competition calendar, venues and disciplines, which officials have said will be fixed at district level once numbers settle. With smog season under way, outdoor scheduling in Lahore and other large cities may also need to account for air quality.
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