The All India Council of Sports (AICS) has praised Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s initiative of adopting and mentoring the men and women hockey teams and urged the other States and Union Territories (UT) to adopt the model to develop other sports.
AICS Chairman Vijay Kumar Malhotra, in a letter addressed to Chief Ministers of all States and UTs, asked them to emulate the Odisha model and support sports in India.
The council further requested all the States and UTs to identify one priority discipline, preferably an Olympic discipline popular in their respective territories, and adopt it, helping them get the necessary boost to develop and succeed at a global level. This would help prepare Indian teams for the next Olympic Games in a systematic manner thereby increasing India’s chances of improving its medal tally, he stated.
Malhotra congratulated Patnaik and said in the letter “the State Government’s decision will go a long way to further promote hockey in the State as well as in the entire country.”
He hailed Patnaik’s decision as a ‘landmark’ decision to promote hockey in India. Odisha sponsoring the national hockey teams is indeed an admirable step as the State has produced many national and international players.