odisha culture
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.
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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.
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