Bhubaneswar: Here’s some good news for aspiring footballers in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar). Plans are afoot to create 40 ‘Football Corners’ by the end of this year to promote and make the sport more accessible to children.
The purpose behind these football corners is to renew interest for the sports among children as Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar will be hosting the prestigious FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup this November, a source said.
The Housing and Urban Development Department and Sports Department along with some NGOs will develop the unused government plots or community spaces into football corners, where children and school students can play the sport.
If all goes well, ‘FIFA Football for Schools Programme’ might also come to Bhubaneswar and under this initiative more than one lakh quality footballs will be distributed among the budding footballers, the source further said.
An important meeting in this regard is scheduled to be held at Loka Seva Bhawan on Monday under the chairmanship of Sports Secretary Vishal Dev to chalk out the strategy and plan of action.
Worth mentioning here that, in August last year, Bhubaneswar was the first city which received the provisional clearance to host the prestigious event. Later, in November, a delegation of the FIFA-local organizing committee (LOC) had visited the state and inspected Kalinga Stadium to assess the facilities and infrastructure. The delegation had then expressed satisfaction about the standard of the venue.
