Odisha govt will sponsor Indian arrows , a deal worth of 5 Cr. Proud of odisha government. They also sponsor our national hockey team. Looks like they're very enthusiastic about sports
How different is this from teams like Air India, ONGC ? That time everybody was against those clubs saying that they are PSU teams, Company teams. They had foreign players still everyone was against them citing non-existent AFC rules.
With a state government sponsoring an association team, this is either a lack of corporate interest or a complete mockery of rules.
Yes. We have very competent offciers in the sports and youth affairs department who have transformed the sporting scenario in Odisha's with enthusiastic support from the ruling government. It's the most exciting department to be in these days.
But whats the reason for this enthusiasm? What Returns would it get in the form RoI or in the form of vote bank?
For hockey, it is still understandable, with so many ex/current players from Orissa and has been staging lot of International tournaments over the past few years - the latest being the Mens World Cup Hockey to be played. That certainly would put Orissa in the global map - which would pave the way for investment etc. and hence result into vote bank etc.(this especially in the wake BJP's vision of eyeing Bengal and Orissa as its next bastion).
Football is highly popular among the rural masses out there. There used to a I-League 2 team regularly from Orissa Sambalpurr Football Academy if I remember. Maybe,they will also get some local Orissa kid into the Arrows system to showcase how they care about the state.
Football is no. 1 sport in districts like Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar etc. But more than vote bank or anything, developed sports ecosystem is seen as a big employment generator. Since we have a large share of tribal population, there is greater pool of sporting talent. Yes it also helps attract investment.
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For hockey, it is still understandable, with so many ex/current players from Orissa and has been staging lot of International tournaments over the past few years - the latest being the Mens World Cup Hockey to be played. That certainly would put Orissa in the global map - which would pave the way for investment etc. and hence result into vote bank etc.(this especially in the wake BJP's vision of eyeing Bengal and Orissa as its next bastion).
Football isn't much popular in Orissa, though.