Kelly Fairweather (left) with senior state government officials at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 2: The green patch at Kalinga Sports Complex had charmed organisers of the Hockey India League. The stunning new turf today impressed a five-member delegation that included representatives of the International Hockey Federation.

Today’s visit by authorities from the sport’s international governing body assumes significance as the state government is hoping to host hockey matches of global standard here.

The team expressed satisfaction over the set-up and suggested completion of floodlight installation at the earliest.

“The present facilities are good, but a second turf is required for practice. The stadium has tremendous potential, and we consider it another world class venue in India,” said the federation’s chief executive officer Kelly Fairweather.

The stadium, with 6,000 seating capacity, was inaugurated on July 29. An official in the state sports and youth services department said they were expecting the city as a venue for the international series of Champions Trophy scheduled between December 13 and 21 in India.

The delegation also advised the state government officials to build a camera platform and press gallery. Earlier, Hockey India, the organiser of Hockey India League, had booked the stadium from January 14 to February 24 next year. The second edition of the league will begin from January 23 next year.

Development commissioner Injeti Srinivas said the installation of floodlights would shortly be over. “So far a second turf is concerned, we need two acres for that. We are in touch with the concerned authorities for allocation of the required land adjacent to the stadium,” said Srinivas.

Officials of the sports department appear optimistic about the possibilities of a state-based franchise in the league. Sources said the league, initially designed with six city-based franchises, has one franchise slot vacant. The state government had initiated steps to find out a state-based franchise.

An official of the sports and youth services department said the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation had been asked to complete the construction of the practice turf. “An estimate of Rs 8 crore has been made for this purpose. The construction of the second turf would be over by May 2014 and the floodlights would be ready by December this year,” said a senior official of the corporation.