By Our Sports Affairs Bureau
BHUBANESWAR: In a major development on Wednesday, Hockey lover Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the State is going to host the 2023 15th edition of Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup in 2023.
FIH President Narinder Batra, Minister Sports & Youth Affairs, Tusarkanti Behera, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy Secretary to CM V Karthikeya Pandian , Secretary Sports Vishal Dev, Director Sports and Youth Affairs R Vineel Krishna and other officials were present.
This mega event will be held at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Chief Minister Mr.Patnaik announced in a ceremony at Kalinga Stadium.
With huge success in again in 2018 Men’s World Cup Hockey, Odisha once again grabbed the opportunity from tough competitors like Punjab. Odisha is going host it for the second time in a row.
The Chief Minister proposed to the Hockey federation to host the matches both in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
Rourkela Panposh hostel is the nerve centre of Hockey in the country and as a tribute to the contribution of Sundergarh to Indian hockey, the CM proposed to host this prestigious event inthe smart city Rourkela in Sundergarh.
This will put Rourkela and Sundergarh in the global map of Hockey, and help support the recognition and development of this area.
The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for 17 astro-turf hockey stadiums (Training Centres) in Sundergarh.
These will be completed in a year’s time. This kind of infrastructure is not there even in European hockey playing nations in the world. He also laid the foundation stone for the hockey high performance centre building and launched the grassroots development program in Sundergarh district by Hockey India.
Chief Minister Mr.Patnaik launched a Coffee Table Book on 2018 Men’s World Cup Hockey in presence of huge audience.
