The first South Asian Games were hosted by Kathmandu, Nepal in 1984. From 1984 to 1987 they were held every year except 1986, as it was a year of Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. From 1987 onwards, they have been held every two years except for some occasions. In 2004, it was decided in the 32nd meeting of South Asian Sports Council to rename the games from South Asian Federation Games to South Asian Games as the officials believed the word Federation was diminishing the emphasis on event and acting as a barrier in attracting crowd.

At present, SAG 2019 are joined by seven members namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAG 2019 is being hosted by Nepal and games will be played in Kathmandu and Pokhara from December 1, 2019 to December 10, 2019. 27 games are being played in the 2019 iteration of South Asian Games..