Bhubaneswar: A team of International Hockey Federation (FIH), headed by president Narinder Dhruv Batra, today visited Kalinga Stadium and said the stadium has adequate infrastructure to host the World Hockey League (WHL) Final which is scheduled to be held in December this year.
After inspection of the stadium, the team held discussions with the officials of State Sports department, Odisha.
Talking to OTV, the FIH president said Kalinga Stadium has adequate infrastructure to host the World Hockey League final. But for the World Cup, some changes are required to be done, especially building the audience capacity to at least 15,000.
"We have already talked to the government and work will start soon after the WHL final," said Batra, adding that the fixtures’ schedule for the competition will be out by early September.
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Besides, Batra is confident that the Indian Hockey team will give its best at the international event in front of the home crowd.
It is worth mentioning that the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup is also scheduled to be held from November 24 to December 16, 2018, at the Kalinga Stadium.