Odisha likely to host international Rugby tournaments

Bhubaneswar: After successfully hosting the Asian Athletics Championships and Champions Trophy Hockey, Odisha may likely host International-level Rugby tournaments soon.

Delegations of World Rugby Federation, Asia Rugby and Rugby India Association today visited Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar to inspect the infrastructure for hosting international Rugby tournaments here.

After inspection of the stadium, the delegates expressed satisfaction and said the venue has desired infrastructure and also informed that with the cooperation of the State Government, Asia and World Rugby, tournaments will be hosted here in future.

Later, the team also held discussions with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard.

“Bhubaneswar has the infrastructure. We are here to assess the possibility of holding International tournaments in future,” said Benjamin Van Rooyen, member of World Rugby Federation.

“Possibility of hosting events here in Bhubaneswar is one of the agendas to discuss with India Rugby. Previously India Rugby has hosted events in Mumbai, Chennai and in New Delhi. So we are looking forward to see whether there is an opportunity here,” said member of Asia Rugby, Rija Shah.

Apart from praising the efforts of the Odisha government for hosting recent international sports events, Vice-President of Asia Rugby Aga Hussain said Rugby tournament is definitely on the cards next year if the Chief Minister assures all support.