Bhubaneswar: With just a few weeks to go for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup kicks off, the Organising Committee of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup co-chaired by chief secretary of Odisha, Suresh Ch Mohapatra and President Hockey India Dilip Tirkey, and the chief minister office reviewed the preparations of the departments and the districts for the successful conduct of the event. The various department senior officials and the Hockey India officials were present during the discussions.

At the core of the discussion were Stadium readiness, connectivity, hospitality, community outreach, safety and security, traffic and crowd management, World Cup celebrations and city festivals, hospitality, medical arrangements, amongst others. It was informed that the Department of Sports and Youth services has allocated a budget of Rs 75 Crore during the FY 2022-23 for the Hockey World Cup.

FIH has already certified the four turfs; two at Kalinga Hockey Stadium that were recently re-laid and the two new turfs (main and practice) laid at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. The lighting systems have also been operational in both the stadiums with certification.

The facilities for the teams at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela were reviewed. The Teams are being provided dedicated flights for their movement between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The commercial flights to Rourkela are expected to be started soon after the necessary permissions.

The Mo Bus services in Rourkela will be operational from January and the services in Bhubaneswar are being augmented. It was decided that the spectators with match day tickets will be allowed Mo Bus travel free-of-cost.

The security arrangements and traffic and parking management was discussed in detail to ensure a safe, secured and smooth experience for the spectators.

The Hockey World Cup Celebrations event in Cuttack on 11th January was also reviewed in detail.

The Secretary to Chief Minister Sh V K Pandian conveyed the direction of the Hon’ble Chief Minister that the celebrations be organised across all the districts in a grand manner involving the communities, schools, colleges etc. It was announced that there will be prizes for the best performing districts. It was discussed with the Collectors regarding the arrangements for the City and district-level festivals. The Trophy tour will cover all the districts in the state.

The host cities of Bhubaneswar and Rourkela are being upgraded and beautified to make it ready for the Hockey World Cup. It was directed that all the works should be completed at the earliest.

The Organising Committee expressed satisfaction over the progress of the works. All the officials present were requested to put their best efforts and ensure that the Hockey World Cup is a grand success.