Reaffirming its commitment to promotion of Indian Hockey, the Odisha government on Friday announced to extend support to Hockey India for another three years, till 2026, as official sponsor of the field sport.
It may be recalled here that the outgoing Naveen Patnaik-led government, in a first-of-its-kind move, had extended the sponsorship to the Men’s and Women’s national hockey team (both senior and junior) for five years in 2018.
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Later the state government, on April 24, 2024, extended the sponsorship support to 2033 for Rs 434.12 crore.
On Friday, the Mohan Majhi-led BJP Government announced sponsorship partnership to Hockey India till 2036, the year which symbolically marks the centenary of Statehood conferred upon the coastal State way back on 1936.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Minister of State for Sports & Youth Services Suryabanshi Suraj, Chief Secretary & Chief Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena, and Commissioner-Cum-Secretary R Vineel Krishna on Friday discussed with Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey and Hockey India Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh on the sponsorship issue.
Later, the state government announced the extension of the sponsorship support to Hockey India till 2036. “2036 will be a momentous occasion for Odisha, when the state will complete 100 years of formation as a separate State. Odisha has been instrumental in the rise of hockey. Extension of sponsorship will go a long way in further growth of the field game,” Chief Minister Mohan Majhi said.
The support extended by Odisha to the promotion of Hockey in India has been widely lauded by sports fraternity internationally. The state successfully hosted two FIH Hockey Men’s World Cups. It also boasts of building the world’s largest hockey stadium with a seating capacity of 20,000 at Rourkela steel town.
