Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced that a world class hockey stadium with a sitting capacity of 20,000 would come up in Rourkela city.
Slated to be the biggest stadium for hockey in the country, it would host the prestigious FIH Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup India 2023.
The stadium along with the allied facilities will be developed as a benchmark for other hockey stadiums around the world. Spread over 15 acre of land, the stadium will be constructed in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus, Rourkela.
In a video message, the Chief Minister said, “As we have announced earlier, Odisha will once again be the proud host of the prestigious Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2023. As a tribute to the contribution of Sundargarh to Indian Hockey, I would like to announce that we will build a new international level hockey stadium in Rourkela with a seating capacity of 20,000.”
Naveen further said Sundargarh district is the powerhouse of hockey talent. Many great hockey players from the district have represented the country at the international level. The India team led by players like Dilip Tirkey and Sunita Lakra have brought laurels for the country.
Recently, a high-level team including senior officials from the state government, International Federation of Hockey (FIH), Department of Sports and Youth Services and Hockey India had visited Rourkela. They reviewed the infrastructure and allied facilities in the city to host the international hockey torunament.
The work to develop synthetic hockey turf in each of the 17 blocks of Sundargarh district has already commenced.
The tournament will be organised both in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
