Bhubaneswar: The Odisha capital figures among five top cities with the required infrastructure to host international sporting events in India.
The Sports Cities of India 2021 study has put Bhubaneswar at the third spot with a score of 7.2 after Delhi and Mumbai, which have emerged as the top cities with a score of 7.9.
Bengaluru and Ahmedabad are the other two cities that find a place in the joint report by consulting, auditing and advisory firm Grant Thornton Bharat and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
‘SPORTS CAPITAL’
For Olympic bid, Bhubaneswar has been ranked fourth after Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Also Read: ‘Odisha Has Capacity & Infrastructure To Pull Off Olympics Very Well’
In the last decade, Bhubaneswar has hosted 14 international and national events, with an average of two major events every year.
After the astounding success of the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup, Odisha (Bhubaneswar and Rourkela) will be hosting the event for the second consecutive time in 2023.
Bhubaneswar will also be hosting FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
Besides, Odisha supports three professional sports league teams—Kalinga Lancers, Odisha FC and Indian Arrows.
The Kalinga Sports Complex has 10 high-performance centres for athletics, football, badminton, hockey, swimming, sports climbing, sports science and sports management.
“Relative to the metro cities shortlisted, Bhubaneswar has a big challenge to compete in terms of as-is trunk infrastructure. With assistance of the state government to address this issue, improvement in transport infrastructure and addition of more luxury accommodation is underway. These will assist in the long-term vision of the state to push for hosting the biggest sports events,” the study said.
The Hockey World Cup 2018 and Asian Athletics Championship 2017 led to a major change in the trunk infrastructure in the last five years. It will also play as one of the host cities to the upcoming FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup. With a visible intent for sports development by the state government, along with private sector involvement, there is great potential in the city as a contender for India’s leading destination for sports, it added.
The findings are based on a survey of 50 respondents, including sports professionals, associations, the government, academics, clubs, infrastructure developers, sports media, leagues, and event and sports management agencies.
