Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced that the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be held in Odisha.
“It is a rare honour for any country to host a World Cup and Odisha is proud to be hosting Hockey World Cup for the second time continuously. I am happy to share matches of Odisha Hockey World Cup 2023 to be played at sports capital of India, Bhubaneswar and hockey nerve centre Rourkela,” announced the Chief Minister at a special function at Kalinga Stadium here.
It may be mentioned here that the competition to host Hockey Men’s World Cup was between three countries – Malaysia, Belgium and India. After a series of bidding rounds, India won the bid to host again the Hockey Men’s World Cup. And Hockey India selected Odisha as the venue and to partner with Odisha Government to host the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup.
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. This will put Rourkela and Sundergarh in the global map of Hockey, and help support the recognition and development of this area, said Patnaik.
The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for 17 astro turf hockey stadiums (Training Centres) in Sundergarh. The proposed projects will be completed in a year’s time. This kind of infrastructure is not there even in European hockey playing nations in the world, claimed the Chief Minister.
Patnaik also laid the foundation stone for the hockey high performance centre building and launched the grassroots development programme in Sundergarh district by Hockey India. A documentary and a Coffee Table Book on Hockey World Cup 2018 was also released on the occasion.
Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusarkanti Behera, FIH President Dr Narendra Batra and others were present.
