A new pride has been added to Bengal's sports arena-an international-standard hockey stadium. The long-awaited plan has now taken shape as the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Hockey Stadium. The construction work is already complete, and on the inaugural stage of the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee virtually inaugurated the hockey stadium. She was accompanied by cricket legend Sourav Ganguly, with whom she cut the ribbon.
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The stadium, built at a reported cost of close to ₹20 crore, has world-class astroturf, galleries akin to Australia, and 22,000 seating capacity. It also has a warm-up zone, two state-of-the-art dressing rooms, a VIP box with two VVIP boxes, a VIP lounge, an umpire and video umpire room, doping test and medical facilities, separate rooms for broadcast and video analysis, a venue management centre, a press corner, and several other modern amenities. For Bengal’s sports aficionados, this is no mere stadium-this heralds a new beginning.
The new astroturf stadium has already been granted a ‘Category 2’ certificate from the Federation, which implies that Bengal is now ready to host everything from national-level competitions to international matches. This approval is valid until December 13, 2027. It is like a new sunrise for hockey in Bengal, where dreams and opportunities run together on an international-standard field.
As per the rules of FIH, only those stadiums that are accredited as ‘Category 1’ can hold international hockey events. A ‘Category 2’ certification is one level lower, which permits the venue to organise national tournaments and some international matches.
Bengal's new astroturf stadium now finds a place in the ‘Category 2’ list. This recognition has earlier been accorded to stadiums in Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Ranchi, Chennai and New Delhi. Kolkata now joins this elite list.
