Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has released the first sports category merit list for admission to MBBS and BDS courses for the 2026-27 academic session, declaring 68 sportsperson candidates eligible for seat allotment against seats reserved under the sports quota in medical and dental colleges across Punjab.According to the university’s Admission Branch, the merit list was prepared by the Office of the Director, Sports, Punjab, on the basis of sports gradation certificates submitted by candidates who applied under the category during the first round of online NEET-UG 2026 counselling. As this is the first counselling round conducted for the sports category, the merit list will be used for seat allotment in the second round of counselling. Applications submitted by sports category candidates during the second round will be considered in the third round.As per the seat matrix released along with the merit list, Punjab has a total of 30 seats reserved under the sports quota for MBBS and BDS courses this session — 16 in medical colleges and 14 in dental colleges. These seats are distributed among government, private and minority institutions across the state.The university has also laid down criteria for resolving ties in the merit list. When two or more candidates secure equal marks in the sports merit evaluation, their inter-se merit will be determined on the basis of their NEET-UG 2026 rank, with the candidate having the better NEET-UG rank placed higher on the merit list. At least nine pairs of candidates have identical sports merit scores in the list released by the university.Authorities said that five candidates on the list have been granted exemption from producing the standard sports gradation certificate. Their gradation certificates were issued under the 1997 Gradation Policy following approval from the Chief Minister of Punjab.