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'Odisha will be happy to see Hockey India League coming back'

NEW DELHI: It's one thing to talk about developing a sports culture and an entirely different ball game to execute those plans. India, as a nation, is making that effort. But adjust the lens to a state-wise view and Odisha stands apart.


Under the leadership of Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, the state's department of Sports and Youth Services has managed to put a sports revolution in motion.

But as is the nature of any revolutionary movement, it brings with it it's own set of challenges.

Of late, more precisely since 2017, Odisha's love affair with hockey has stood out, even as it continued to diversify by hosting major tournaments in other sports as well, like the Asian Athletics Championships. But by becoming the first state to sponsor national hockey teams (men and women) and by hosting the men's World Cup last year, the association reached a different level, not just in terms of organising international hockey events but also developing the state with it, especially the state capital and host city Bhubaneswar.

Earlier this month, when the International Hockey Federation (FIH) decided to award India the 2023 men's World Cup as well, the spotlight was once again on Bhubaneswar. Though Hockey India is yet to decide on the host city, the Odisha capital -- with all the machinery in place at the revamped Kalinga Stadium -- leads that race, which currently has five cities reportedly vying to host.

While the hockey fraternity's opinion on FIH's decision to award India unprecedented back-to-back World Cups remains divided on the basis of sport's global growth, Odisha stands proud that because of their efforts, the state is once again being talked about as the most prepared venue to host another edition of the World Cup.



One of the leading architects of developing that mindset is Vineel Krishna , Director, Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha .

An IAS officer, who joined as the state's Sports Director in 2017, Krishna has the additional charge of Managing Director of the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) Ltd.

Incidentally, Krishna's association with OMC makes his connection with hockey stronger, as the company (a public sector undertaking) also holds stakes in the Hockey India League (HIL) franchise Kalinga Lancers , besides being the leading state agency to officially sponsor India's men and women national teams until 2022 and the men's World Cup held last year.

Krishna spoke to Timesofindia.com in an interview, where he touched upon a wide range of subjects around Odisha as India's major sports destination.

Excerpts:

When did Odisha first emerge as a serious sporting destination?

Odisha has been doing reasonably well for quite some time in sports, especially hockey, athletics and weightlifting. The fastest Indians, both men and women (Dutee Chand and Amiya Mallick), are from Odisha. However, as a sporting destination, our journey started in a dramatic manner.

In 2017, India was to host the Asian Athletics Championships. The host city withdrew three months before the event. The Athletics Federation of India met our Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, to request for hosting it in Bhubaneswar. The state government took up the challenge and the CM directed all government agencies to work on priority.

We didn’t have the synthetic tracks or the flood lights, the stadium needed complete renovation. Also, athletics has a lot of logistical requirement. More than 1000 athletes and officials were to participate from 40 countries in 42 events. The infrastructure was created in record time and the event was organised without any hitch. The best part was the response from the crowd. Athletics doesn't normally attract big crowds, but our stadium was full.

It provided the impetus for Odisha to emerge as a sporting destination and in the last two years we have organised numerous national and international events.



Was the government’s interest in staging sports events a planned strategy?

While the Asian Athletics Championships was more of a chance, the subsequent events were planned in advance. The word spread about Odisha organising sports events smoothly; therefore, various federations approached us to host events and the state government has enthusiastically supported all the sports initiatives.

Odisha has also hosted the men’s hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Hockey World League Finals 2017, Indian Super League matches, Super Cup 2018-2019, National Open Athletics Championships 2018, Girls U-18 Asia Rugby 7s Championships 2018, men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, AIFF 4-nations Women’s Gold Cup 2019 and the recent FIH Series Finals and Olympic hockey qualifiers this year.

Hosting an international event almost every year takes a lot out of the state's pocket, especially when you (Odisha) are sponsoring the national hockey teams as well. How have you managed to counter the pressure and answered tough questions from those opposing the huge expenditure involved?

We have been fortunate to get substantial corporate support for hosting major tournaments and therefore, we haven’t taken a lot of money from the government exchequer. It's not that the government has spent a huge amount of money. It's the corporate (sector) also that has come forward for the same. We really haven’t come across any opposition with regards to Odisha hosting sporting events that get the state a lot of visibility and at the same time promote tourism in the state. Therefore, all the government agencies work together and there are no major challenges. Also, with each such major event, we have a grassroot development programme that helps in creating a formidable sporting ecosystem in the state.

Sometimes the challenges are unexpected, like the recent Cyclone Fani, which happened in May this year and left behind a devastating trail of destruction. We were to host the FIH Series Finals in June and there were questions whether we could deliver it. But various government agencies came together and fixed things to host the tournament.



Where does Odisha stand in terms of its Hockey India League franchise Kalinga Lancers, with the league in the oblivion now? Does Odisha have any plans to help the HIL get back on its legs by sponsoring the entire tournament?

No, we have no plans as of now to sponsor the league. It is Hockey India’s responsibility to kick off the league and we will be happy and willing to once again participate in the league.

Bhubaneswar has become international hockey's hub in India for half a decade now. What measures are you taking to make sure there is no overkill for local fans as viewers?

We believe that local fans love to be part of the hockey extravaganza in the state and it's very unlikely that they will get bored of it. So far they haven’t and there’s always an exciting buzz around the state before any sporting event in the state. Plus, now we have Odisha FC too, which will be playing out of Bhubaneswar soon. And we keep hosting various events like rugby and Commonwealth Table Tennis in Cuttack, which gives them (the fans) a variety of sporting events to choose from, which helps keep the excitement and interest alive.

Odisha has a rich hockey history, especially in the tribal areas. What are the plans, if any, to take international hockey to places like Sundergarh and Rourkela, which should attract more foreign visitors/tourists as well?

The district of Sundergarh, which includes Rourkela, is known as the ‘cradle of hockey’ because of many eminent hockey players hailing from the district, who have brought laurels for both the state and the country. Hockey is almost like a religion in the districts. We have made a provision where each of the 17 blocks in the district will have an astro turf as part of our Chief Minister’s vision to promote and attract more viewership and participation there. We are tying up with Hockey India to start grassroot coaching and development programme at all these locations to further boost awareness and participation.

How did you manage to bring names like Gagan Narang, Pullela Gopichand and Abhinav Bindra to invest in promoting sports, which is a first in Indian sports?

We are experimenting with a unique model. The state government has brought together the corporates and elite sportspersons with proven record of coaching. Governments are good in building infrastructure but not in running coaching programmes, which require a lot of experience. Therefore, we bring infrastructure to the table, the corporates bring the flexible funds and the sportsperson/sports management agencies bring the coaching expertise.

We discussed with some of the eminent sportspersons who are now into coaching and motivated them to invest in Odisha, while assuring full support. Similarly, corporates want to support sports and we have provided the platform.

Today we have High Performance Centres for badminton, athletics, shooting and weightlifting, apart from state-of-the-art rehab and training centre in the form of Abhinav Bindra Target Performance Centre.

The next big challenge for the state is the 2020 Under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Apart from that, what are the other projects in the pipeline?

Next year we will be one of the host cities for the under-17 Women’s World Cup. We are also in talks for hosting more major events. The Hockey Pro league will be played in the Kalinga Stadium for the next season starting January. We are also hosting the Indian Super League and I-League matches.

Apart from the sports events, we are also concentrating on the grassroot development and that’s one of our major focus areas in the coming year. With Odisha hosting a lot of events, there has been a lot of interest in sports in the state and we would like to expand our grassroot infrastructure and coaching programmes quickly to cater to the sporting aspirations of our youth.

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