BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s decision to sponsor the national Men and Women hockey teams has invited praise from the All India Council of Sports (AICS) which has now asked all States and Union Territories to take a leaf out of Naveen Patnaik Government’s book.
The council has requested all the States and UTs to identify one priority discipline, preferably an Olympic discipline popular in their respective territories, and adopt it on the lines of the Odisha Government. This would help prepare Indian teams for next Olympic games in a systematic manner, its president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
Even as opposition BJP wastes no opportunity to find flaw in the State Government’s actions, senior party leader and AICS chief Malhotra lauded Odisha Government for its “landmark decision to promote hockey in India.”
In a letter, Malhotra congratulated Naveen and said the State Government’s decision will go a long way in furthering the cause of hockey in the State as well as in the entire country.
“Your decision will motivate other States to come forward to adopt sports disciplines popular in their respective States in similar manner,” Malhotra’s letter said.
The AICS chief has also addressed a letter to CMs of all States and UTs stating that Odisha sponsoring the national hockey teams is indeed a most admirable step as the State has produced many national and international players.