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EXCLUSIVE: 'The fans are heartbeat of this World Cup' - R Vineel Krishna, the man who made this possible

Odisha, IndiaWritten By: Digvijay Singh DeoUpdated: Jan 28, 2023, 07:39 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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In an exclusive chat with WION’s Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo, R Vineel Krishna spoke in detail about the contribution of fans in making this tournament a super success, what is the long-term vision of the Odisha government in regards to hockey and other sports and much more.

With the ongoing FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup taking place in the state of Odisha, India, this has happened for the first time in the game’s history that the same country has got a chance to host two straight World Cups. In the meantime, WION’s Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo spoke to R Vineel Krishna, the commissioner-cum-secretary of the sports and youth services department for the government of Odisha, who helped in making this mega event a grand success. 

In an exclusive chat, Vineel Krishna spoke in detail about the contribution of fans in making this tournament a super success, what is the long-term vision of the Odisha government in regards to hockey and other sports and much more.

Although the hosts India got knocked out of the tournament in the crossover stage against New Zealand, this World Cup hasn’t felt any void, all thanks to the super support from the fans, who have turned up in large numbers in almost every game. Speaking highly of the fans who never fail to disappoint, at least in this part of the country when it comes to hockey, R Vineel said,

“I think why many teams across the world come here and play in Odisha is because of the fans. Earlier, we used to think that the crowd in Kalinga stadium remains huge, but it has been outperformed by the crowd in Rourkela.”

When asked about the thought process in bidding for the World Cup in India for the successive time, R Vineel said going for it again involved combinations of many factors – with the primary factor being to create a sports-oriented society for the youngsters to get inspired and watch and take up sports like hockey, or any they like for that matter.

“Going for the World Cup all over again had combinations of many factors involved, but the primary vision was to create health-oriented, fitness-oriented and sports-oriented society, and inspire as many people as possible to towards the sports, especially hockey,” he added.

While Vineel stressed on the fact that all state associations must come forward and take initiatives to ensure the rise of sports in their state, he answered in detail about how the Odisha government has managed to bring the corporates into hockey; something that was largely in seen cricket only or in football to a small extent.

Briefing on the same, he said given the vision of Odisha’s government to expand the sports culture not only in this state but in the whole country, the corporates were willing to join hands. Besides, the credibility and reputation of the Odisha’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, helped in the cause as well.

“Marrying sports and corporates, that was seen only in cricket before, was achieved through the vision of our honourable chief minister, who believes in creating partnerships. He feels unless we don't create partnerships, we will not be able to create that excellence in sports and therefore, will not be able to achieve results.

"Because of his reputation and credibility, a lot of these corporates want to come forward and want to join hands with him,” he concluded.