Bhubaneswar: The state government is all set to lease out the World Cup Village at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium Complex in Odisha’s Rourkela city.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the village ahead of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
The Sports and Youth Services department of Odisha government has recently issued a notification for leasing out the World Cup Village on long-term basis. Private parties have been asked to submit their expressions of interest (EOIs) from July 17 to August 10, sources said.
The interested parties will be allowed to visit the World Cup Village at Rourkela. The government is likely to select one of the private parties for leasing out the village, they added.
Notably, the state government had constructed the World Cup Village within record nine months prior to the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
The World Cup Village has 225 rooms and all modern amenities including swimming pool, fitness centre, four meeting halls, three dining halls, two kitchens, facility for steam bath and reception centre.
Altogether 20 matches of the Men’s Hockey World Cup were played at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, touted as the largest hockey stadium in the world while the remaining 24 matches, including the final, were held at Kalinga Stadium in Odisha capital.
Many locals and sports lovers, meanwhile, urged the state government not to lease out the World Cup Village to any private party. They pleaded that the Sports and Youth Services department should manage the facility on its own.