Men’s Hockey World Cup: Capacity of Kalinga Stadium To Be Doubled

Bhubaneswar:  Ahead of the Men’s Hockey World Cup scheduled to kick off at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from November 28 this year, the Odisha government has decided to double the capacity of the stadium.

A decision to this effect was taken at the second executive committee meeting for the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 presided over by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the State Secretariat here on Thursday.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Padhi said apart from doubling the capacity of the stadium, work for the second hockey field inside the stadium premises will be completed by July this year.

He said the meeting decided to install a new turf in the stadium and the second proposed hockey field while the existing turf will be used in the hockey stadium in Rourkela and Sambalpur.

The chief secretary said a special committee has been formed to look into traffic and parking issues during the event. Besides, efforts are on to provide facilities like another entry point, cafeteria, food court and sports goods stores inside the stadium, he added.

Present at the meeting, secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, Vishal Dev said promotion of the Hockey World Cup will be carried out in all blocks. Apart from this LED panels will be installed in each district headquarters to facilitate spectators watch live matches, he said, adding that more than 10,000 spectators from abroad are expected to watch the mega event in Kalinga Stadium.

The meeting was attended by the CEO, Hockey India League (HIL) Elena Norman, Director General of Police RP Sharma, Police Commissioner and secretary, Tourism.

The mega event would be concluded on December 16.