Bhubaneswar: FIH President Tayyab Ikram went to Delhi on Wednesday to meet Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur and update him about the 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup currently played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Odisha, as well as various topics linked to FIH and hockey in general.
“On behalf of FIH, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur for taking some of his precious time to meet me. It’s an honor for me personally and for FIH,” Ikram said.
“During our very friendly talks, I praised the absolutely remarkable work done by the State of Odisha, together with Hockey India and the FIH team, to put together such a remarkable hockey festival! I’ve also underlined how wonderful Odisha fans are!”, said FIH President.
“Furthermore, we talked about how FIH can assist India in terms of hockey development, especially for coaching. The Minister assured FIH of India’s full commitment for our hockey development programmes in the country,” he said.
“I also had the opportunity to give an update on our work towards water-free hockey pitches in the future and underlined the huge potential of Hockey5s to develop hockey even further globally,’ Ikram said.
Talks went on further and touched upon India’s Olympics hosting plans.
“The Union Minister is very well aware of my background within the Olympic movement. Therefore, he initiated a conversation about a potential Indian bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games and demonstrated how determined the Government is. It was a very open and rich exchange”, the FIH President added.
Before his meeting with Union Sports Minister, the FIH President had also met SAI Director General Sandip Pradhan to discuss about the Men’s World Cup currently played in the country as well as hockey development matters.
The 15th edition of FIH’s flagship event for men is being played from January 13 to 29 in Odisha.
