'We want to host multiple championships like this at same venue'

BHUBANESWAR: The Kalinga Stadium is buzzing with activity as the Hero Intercontinental Cup and the National Inter State Athletic Championship are being held here simultaneously and Odisha's Sports and Youth Services Secretary Vineel Krishna hopes the iconic facility can continue to host multiple events in the future.

The Hero Intercontinental Cup football tournament comprising four teams -India, Vanuatu, Lebanon, and Mongolia will culminate with the final on Sunday, where the hosts will take on Lebanon. The National Inter-State Athletic Championship, on the other hand, kicked off on Thursday and will go on till June 19.

''We want to host multiple championships like this in the future at the same location so that the entire stadium complex is very optimally utilised,'' Krishna said.

He added that the Kalinga Stadium will continue to strive to host world-class events.

''When the proposals for these events were sent to us, we indicated that June was good, but when the dates were finalised, there was some overlap due to the Asian Games qualifying deadline. As a result, the Athletics Championship was only to be held during this time span,'' Krishna said.

''Hosting these tournaments came with challenges, but we were quite confident. Our team is also knowledgeable, having previously worked with several national and international championships.

''Athletics begins early in the morning and concludes by 1 pm and then the entire branding and facilities gets changed for Intercontinental Cup which begins at 4 pm.'' He further opined that Odisha has tremendous capability to consistently host large scale sporting events, which will only raise the state's profile as a sporting hub. ''The multisport tournaments will raise Odisha's profile as a potential host city for important international sporting events.''