The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, says four states at the moment have submitted applications as prospective hosts for subsequent National Sports Festival.
Dalung said this in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday while visiting some of the match venues of the NSF at the National Staduim, Abuja.
The minister, however, expressed mixed feelings on the success of the event, adding that the festival had become an institution.
He said: “I am happy that the NSF is back, but I am sad that we have denied three generations the opportunity to showcase and develop themselves.
“The festival is back and there are so many prospective hosts.
“At the moment, four states have submitted applications.
“But we have already created a perfect structure.
“It is no more the issue of a bureaucrat sitting at the ministry or governors playing the politics.
“NSF has become an incorporated institution which runs itself.
“The ministry maintains the policy, while private sector provides funding.”
The last edition of the festival, a supposed biennial event, was held in Lagos 2012.