FIH Hockey World Cup 2023: All you need to know about the venues in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela

Hockey World Cup 2023: The matches will be played at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium and Rourkela’s Birsa Munda Stadium. The FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 is all set to get underway in Odisha from January 13. This will be the 15th edition of the tournament, and the second consecutive World Cup in India.

Odisha has been the home of Indian hockey over the past decade. The state has hosted multiple international matches including the FIH Pro League games. The 2018 edition of the World Cup was also held in the state.

However, back then, only Bhubaneswar hosted the matches. For 2023, another stadium has been added in Rourkela to host the 16-team tournament.

Here is more about the two stadiums that will host the matches during the World Cup:

KALINGA STADIUM

Bhubaneswar: To take the Hockey World Cup fever to a greater height in Odisha, Olly’s Land has come at three places which offer fun, entertainment and excitement in the evening.

Designed beautifully, these fan parks at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela and Sea Beach in Puri light up the night with spectacular lighting installations. Besides taking selfies with Olly, the official mascot of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023, the Olly’s Land offers a host of engaging activities. The fan parks feature food stalls, festivity, and frolic for the visitors.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the Olly’s Land at the Kalinga Stadium on Thursday. He shook hands with the children and interacted with them.

Built in 2010 with a capacity of 5,000 spectators, the Kalinga Hockey Stadium played host to the men’s Champions Trophy in 2014 and the Odisha Hockey World League final in 2017.

In preparation for the showpiece Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, the Kalinga Hockey Stadium underwent a huge transformation. An impressive refurbishment saw the construction of new stands to increase the capacity to 15,000, with both the stadium pitch and nearby practice pitches being re-laid.

Widely regarded as one of the finest hockey arenas anywhere in the world, it is a stadium perfectly suited to welcoming the world’s greatest teams and players. The stadium will host 24 of the 44 matches at this World Cup, including the showpiece final and bronze medal match.

India will play its last pool stage match against England in Bhubaneswar.

 

BIRSA MUNDA STADIUM

When India was bidding for the 2023 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup, it was decided that another hockey stadium would have to be built within Odisha. The government then allotted 15 acres of land for building the stadium. The responsibility of constructing the stadium was then also handed over to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). The chairman of IDCO, Sanjay Kumar Singh, also said, “The Government of Odisha has assigned us to construct a world class stadium for the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 within the given timeline of 12 months.” The foundation stone of the stadium was laid by the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik in February 2021. and was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik on 5 January 2023.

It is also the fourth largest field hockey stadium in the world. Unlike the other top three stadiums, which are terrace stadiums and are part of multi-purpose sports complex, this stadium is the largest all-seater field hockey-specific stadium which was solely constructed for the purpose of conducting field hockey matches

The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium is being built exclusively to host the 2023 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup. This will be the fourth time India will host this event and it will also be the second time the world cup will be hosted in Odisha. The 2023 version of the cup will be held jointly between two cities in the state of Odisha, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Along with the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar will be the other venue for the event.

It will host 20 out of the 44 matches being played in this competition. With a total capacity of 20,000, the State of Odisha is now blessed with two genuinely world class hockey arenas, complementing the already iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Following the completion of the FIH Men’s World Cup, the stadium will be used to host several of India’s matches in the FIH Pro League.

India will play its first two pool stage games – against Spain and Wales – in Rourkela.