Bhubaneswar: Hockey World Cup Utsav will be observed in five municipal corporations including at the historic Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
The Hockey World Cup trophy will be exhibited through tours across the country including in the majority of districts of Odisha.
Students of schools and colleges will be included in this programme and measures will be taken to develop sporting talents among all especially students.
These decisions were taken during a review of the preparedness for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup-2023 at a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today.
FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup-2023 will be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29.
A total of 16 teams will take part in this prestigious tournament. While 24 matches of the tournament will be played in Bhubaneswar, 20 will be played in Rourkela.
Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, the cities hosting the venues of the tournament will be beautified.
All departments are working in this direction while maintaining proper coordination among themselves. Chartered flights have been arranged for the travel of players and match officials. With the addition of 100 new buses, the Mo Bus service will be started in Rourkela.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra apprised the Council of Ministers about the different programmes to be organized during the Hockey World Cup.
He informed that while the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar is fully geared for the tournament, the Rourkela Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium will be completed by the end of November.
Work on laying of astro turf and fixing of floodlights have been completed in both the stadiums, he added.
He further informed that construction of 225 rooms for the stay of participating teams and match officials is underway and it will be also completed by the end of November.
Mahapatra told the Council of Ministers that the organizing committee and various sub-committees are gearing up to successfully organize the Hockey World Cup. Security arrangements have been strengthened to make the event completely incident-free.
The Chief Minister highly praised the steps of all departments involved in organizing the Hockey World Cup and directed to complete all works within the specified time.
