The state government has planned to develop 40 ‘Football Corners’ at Odisha’s twin cities – Bhubaneswar and Cuttack by the end of this year. This initiative will help promote football and make the sport more accessible for the budding talent of Odisha.
The initiative comes at a time when the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar is set to host the prestigious FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup this November. The Housing and Urban Development Department and Sports Department along with a few NGOs will look after the development of this initiative. They will be turning unused government plots or community spaces into football corners, where children and school students can play the sport.
According to sources, if this plan takes off successfully, the ‘FIFA Football for Schools Programme’ might make a visit to Bhubaneswar – which may potentially see more than one lakh quality footballs being distributed among the budding footballers.
A meeting regarding this plan has already been held at the Lok Seva Bhawan.