“World's largest hockey stadium” row over Birsa Munda in Odisha takes a turn

Bhubaneswar: The controversy over the status of Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela is ongoing and the Odisha government has asserted that it is the world's largest hockey facility in terms of seating capacity.

The stadium in question was inaugurated on Thursday and it is set to host the Men's World Cup Hockey, organised by the FIH between January 13 and 29.

After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the Rourkela stadium is the world's largest hockey stadium, BJP MLA Shankar Oram from Biramitrapur disputed the claim. He argued that the National Hockey Stadium in Pakistan's Lahore with a capacity of 45,000 people is the world's largest. He also said that the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium comes at number four.

Sports and Youth Affairs Minister TK Behera responded by saying that the Rourkela facility is the world's biggest. "We are not saying this. It has been certified by FIH that the stadium is the biggest in terms of seating capacity."

However, Oram's claim is true and Lahore stadium can seat 45,000 people. This is followed by Chandigarh Hockey Stadium (30,000) and Weingart Stadium (multipurpose) in Los Angeles in the US (22,355).

Later, Odisha's Sports Secretary R Vaineel Krishna clarified that the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium is the largest as 20,000 people can formally seat and witness a match which is not available anywhere in India. "Other stadia in India might have the capacity to accommodate more people but that includes "standing accommodation." It also has a World Cup Village with 225 rooms to house 400 players and officials.

The World Cup has 44 matches and 20 of them will be played in Rourkela. The rest of the matches will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar which has a seating arrangement for 15,000 people.