Bhubaneswar, July 28: The state government has restricted sportspersons from practicing in the main stadium of Kalinga Stadium, which will now be used to host international and national events only.

With Odisha set to host a number of such events in the forthcoming days, the move comes to ensure proper use of the stadium.

The stadium will also be used to host national-level training camps, while the athletes and inmates of the sports hostel will use the warm up ground for practice. This apart, the ground will be used for district and state-level competitions.

"The main stadium will be used for major competitions only. We are working to make it more attractive and feasible to hold sports events of national and international importance," sports secretary Vishal Dev said.

The Kalinga Stadium will hold Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 and there are chances of hosting Commonwealth as well.

Students from schools, colleges and universities can take advantage of the warm-up ground and use its facilities. "The ground will be open for educational institutions. Since the facilities in the main and warm-up tracks are same, they can be used to hone sporting talents," Dev said.

The state government had recently announced that an expression of interest (EoI) would be signed with the International Associations of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for establishment of a high-performance academy here. The first round of discussion in this concern has been held. The next round is scheduled in August in Delhi with the central government and the AFI.

"We are working on preparing a detailed structure. The equipment bought for the Asian Athletics Championships will be utilised for the academy and more would brought in after a discussion with the AFI," Dev said.

The state government has recently introduced incentives for the sportspersons who excel at the international and national levels.

The government has also offered jobs to such players. A sports expert Abhishek Kumar said: "It feels good to see that the state government is taking sports seriously and initiating steps to provide better amenities to sportspersons. The move to allow educational institutions at the stadium is a good. It will help to boost sporting talent in the state."