BHUBANESWAR: India might have won the right to host the men’s hockey World Cup in 2018, but there is no certainty that Kalinga Stadium (KS) will be the only venue for the mega event. This was disclosed by International Hockey Federation (FIH) representative Kenneth Eric Read on Friday.
“Kalinga Stadium has a beautiful hockey complex. But a decision regarding the World Cup has not been taken. Delhi and Chennai have shown interest to organise the quadrennial event. The FIH will consider the options before taking a decision,” said Read after unveiling the Champions Trophy here on Friday.
“The 2018 World Cup will be participated by 16 teams. In that case the infrastructure requirement will be huge. Keeping this in mind, the FIH may decide to make the event a multi-city affair. If the Government of Odisha is interested in staging it at Kalinga Stadium, the infrastructure facility has to be increased a lot,” he added.
Read indicated the possibility of Kalinga Stadium getting the World Cup will also depend on successful organisation of the Champions Trophy with capacity crowd in each and every match.
The FIH representative declined to reveal the amount of money the world body took to allot the Champions Trophy to Kalinga Stadium.