Bhubaneswar: With international acclaim as ‘Global Hockey Hub’ under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Odisha now gets ready to host the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup, 2021. The preparations were reviewed by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra in a high-level meeting held today on digital mode from Lokseba Bhawan wherein Secretary Sports and Youth Services Sri Veneel Krishna outlined the issues for discussion.
Reviewing the progress of different tasks associated with the event, the Chief Secretary directed the departments of works, IDCO, police, fire service, health & family welfare, handloom and textiles, tourism, housing and urban development, BSNl and energy to complete all works and arrangements well before the time.
Secretary Sri Krishna appraised that the grand event will be held for 12 days from 24 November to 5 December 2021 at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. The top 16 teams of the World would participate in the event. The tournament would be played in four pools with quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. In total 48 matches would be held during the tournament. The schedule would include 5 matches per day from 24 to 27 November, and, 4 matches per day from 28 November to 5 December.
The Teams from Belgium, Malaysia, South Africa, and Chile would play in Pool-A; India, Canada, France and Poland would play in Pool-B; Netherland, Spain, Korea and the United States would be in Pool-C; and, Germany, Argentina, Pakistan and Egypt would be in Pool-D. Approximately 600 players and officials would participate in the event.
The issues relating to travel and accommodation of the teams, their local transport, arrival, catering, security, development of the stadium, practice ground, main hockey ground, venue operation, traffic, fire safety, electrical arrangement and safety, waste management, regular covid test, necessary arrangement for health and medical care, internet connectivity, etc were discussed and decided in the meeting.
In view of the Covid-19 protocols, spectators would not be allowed inside the stadium. The Chief Secretary directed to ensure proper live telecast and live display of the of event on large screens of BMC inside the town.
Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Raj Kumar Sharma, Secretary Sports and Youth Services Vineel Krishna, Secretary Works Krishan Kumar, Principal Secretary Handloom, Textiles and Handicraft Smt Subha Sarma, Commissioner BMC Sanjaya Singh, Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi along with Secretaries and senior officers of concerned departments participated in the discussion.
