Preparations for the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) have almost been completed after a tough time due to widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The chief executive officer of the KIYG, Avinash Joshi, said they would hand over the venues to the Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC) after Wednesday.

About 10,000 athletes and officials are likely to take part in the Games that will be held on schedule from January 10 to 22.

“Preparations will be completed within a week and after December 25 the venues will be handed over to the GTCC to conduct the Games. We have more than 100 per cent support, guidance and cooperation from the state government,” Joshi said here on Thursday.

The chefs de mission of the participating states have already visited Guwahati and inspected the venues. There will be 37 contingents, including the Union Territories.

The athletes will compete in 20 disciplines, including new additions such as lawn bowls and cycling, at 11 venues across the city and on its outskirts. There will be 1,500 medals.

“In the last seven to 10 days, we had tough time as we witnessed a lot of agitations. Now things are improving very fast except the lack of Internet services. If that is resumed, life will be back to normal. We were worried and concerned about whatever happened, but we have adopted measures to address these issues. The deployment of security at all the venues, hotels and transit points has been done adequately. We are confident and ready for the Games,” Joshi added.

The opening ceremony will take place on January 10 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. Though the organisers are tight-lipped about the names of the stars, Joshi hinted that some of big names of the sports and music industry are likely to be present during the gala opening ceremony.

The players’ contingents will start arriving in the city from January 7.

Joshi added that as a host, Assam will get entries in all disciplines. There will be live coverage of some disciplines on Star Sports.

“We will also try to push it to the local channels to get wider reach of the events. It will be a huge boost for the players as well,” he added.

There will be no tickets for the Games, including the opening ceremony.

Any person can go and collect passes of the Games at the stadiums.