Bhubaneswar: Former Indian Hockey skipper Dilip Tirkey has been appointed as the Chairman of the newly formed Adhoc Committee for Hockey in Odisha replacing Hockey India Vice President Bhola Nath Singh.
Tirkey was elected unanimously at the first meeting of the panel convened virtually on Friday.
Recently, Bhola Nath Singh of Jharkhand was chosen as the head of the Adhoc Committee of Odisha Hockey. However, following the intervention of the State Government and Hockey India, former Indian Hockey Captain Dilip Tirkey was appointed as the Chairman of the newly constituted panel.
The Adhoc Committee will manage the operations and promotion of hockey across Odisha, It will focus on grassroot development of hockey and nurture the young talents of Odisha.
Hockey India Vice President Bhola Nath Singh has been appointed as the member of the committee. Other members of the panel include — Adhip Das, representative of Odisha Olympic Association; Shailendra Jena, Deputy Secretary of Odisha Sports and Youth Services as the Member Convener; and Rajendra Pani, Under Secretary of Odisha Sports and Youth Services Department.
Currently, Tirkey is the Chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council.
With the new charge, he will work for the development of grassroot programmes.
“This is a great opportunity for me to work for young players. The committee will take immediate and necessary action for securing the interest of hockey platers of Odisha of different age categories. Simultaneously, the panel will handle the management of district Hockey Associations,” Tirkey said after being appointed as the Chairman of Adhoc Committee of Odisha Hockey.
He said that three players from Odisha have been selected to the National Hockey teams for Tokyo Olympics 2020. The panel will work towards creating more international players from Odisha.