Even though the Odisha government is claiming to be a big promoter of hockey across the globe, the officials of Hockey Odisha have alleged that the State authority is overlooking the parent administrative body of the game on its own soil.
Hockey Odisha Secretary Pratap Satpathy on Sunday slammed the State Government for overlooking the parent body in the State and rather giving too much importance to Hockey India.
“Hockey India has become a major barrier in the relationship between Odisha government and Hockey Odisha. The State government is also responsible for ignoring the parent administrative body of the game in Odisha,” said Sathpathy while addressing the general body meeting of Hockey Odisha at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
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“Since an administrative body of Hockey in Odisha is functioning, the government shouldn’t deal with the national administrative body directly. Overlooking Hockey Odisha means neglecting the game in the State,” said Satpathy.
According to Lodha Committee guidelines, the State government shouldn’t interfere in the management of any game. Same thing has also been mentioned in the Olympics guidelines. However the government is interfering in the management of the game in the State in every possible way, alleged Satpathy.
“If the State government continues its functioning in this manner, Hockey Odisha shouldn’t exist at all,” said a dejected Satpathy.
(Edited by Suryakant Jena)