Another chapter has been added to the ongoing Centre-State tussle over a series of issues after the Union Sports Minister has made it clear that the Centre will not allocate fund for Odisha to host Men’s Hockey World Cup starting here in November.
There would be no Central fund for the international men’s hockey event scheduled to begin from November at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, informed Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to the Parliament while replying to a question asked by BJD MP Jhina Hikaka on Saturday.
Reacting to the statement, Odisha Sports and Youth Services Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera has questioned the Centre’s moral responsibility in holding of the hockey tournament in Odisha.
Behera said that whenever a State hosts an international sports event, it becomes the matter of pride not only for that State but also for the entire nation. Why the Centre is not providing financial assistant to the Odisha Government through the Indian Olympic Association, he has questioned.
However, it is highly unfortunate that the Centre would not extend any financial support to the State for the Men’s Hockey World Cup, Behera rued.