In an exclusive interview to The Sunday Guardian, R. Vineel Krishna, Director, Departs of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Odisha, talked on a slew of issues. Excerpts:
Q. There has been a huge buzz around the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar. With the successful conduct of the World Cup, what are the plans ahead?
A. Hockey has always been Odisha’s core competence in the sports arena. The state is acknowledged as the “Cradle” and “Nursery” of hockey and it has been on the forefront of hockey promotion as it is also the first state to own a team in the Hockey India League. Odisha’s Sundargarh belt is mostly populated by the Oran, Munda, Kisan, and Kharia tribes, all of whom breathe hockey. But there is much talent beyond it as well. The Odisha Hockey Association even plans on taking the game to more youngsters by organising more domestic tournaments. We are currently spreading our sports infrastructure in other parts of the state, by setting up four satellite stadiums with world class infrastructure in four other municipal corporations—Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, and Rourkela. Not just hockey and athletics, the state government hosted major competitions across diverse sports fields from ISL football to Asian Rugby Championship. These require varied specialised infrastructure.
Q. Tell us about the online activities that you had undertaken for the World Cup?
A. We had a very large online promotional activity going on in the social media. Probably, we are one of the very few sports departments that is active in the social media. We have our presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We also had a lot of promotional contests going on the social media like we gave signed jerseys and signed hockey sticks by the Indian hockey team to the winners of those competitions.
Q. What were the security arrangements that had been made for the delegates and VIPs?
A. A very detailed and elaborated security plan had been put in place for delegates and players. Especially in India particularly with respect to sports events and cultural and other events, the kind of security arrangements that are made kind of limits the experience of the audience because it is not a very pleasant thing to see police in uniform around us. So, in this World Cup, the police were not in their uniform and were deployed in smart tracksuits. So it was more welcoming for the visitors as also to spectators in general. CCTV cameras were placed at key positions and regular check points and also backup of a quick reaction team had been put in place. The idea was that the participants are not intimidated by the security, but at the same time, they also feel that they are secure and taken care of.
Q. What is the message you want to send out to the world through this mega event?
A. The Hockey Men’s World Cup hosted by Odisha has been our biggest international event so far in the state. We have built one of the best hockey stadiums and graciously hosted and welcomed the teams and guests from across the world. It is a demonstration of the capacity of the state to host such a mega event and we hope the visitors had a wonderful time experiencing our culture, apart from enjoying sports during the events.