LAHORE, Sept 5: The South Asian Youth and Junior athletics championships, which was to be held at Pune, India, in October has been deferred till December due to Ramazan.

A spokesman of the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) said that all the Muslim countries participating in the event requested the organisers to postpone it in view of the sanctity of the Holy month.

“The event has been postponed due to the month of Ramazan. It is likely to be held now in December and the exact dates / venue will be decided by the member countries during the third Commonwealth Youth Games scheduled in October at Pune,” the spokesman added.

He said the postponement would give AFP more time for better preparations for the inaugural Youth championship of South Asia.

The director general of the Pakistan Sports Board has been requested to allow continuity of the training camp for the said competitions.