World Cup hockey is also controversial, although the viewer gets little of it

India’s early elimination is a sporting disaster for the host country at the World Cup hockey. But the state of Odisha has been put on the map by this tournament. The most expensive World Cup ever – just like the Football World Cup in Qatar – is indeed controversial, even if the viewers get little of it.

Whoever is elected ‘Man of the Match’ after a World Cup match in Bhubaneswar has to wait a long time before he is handed over the prize. The list of sponsors to be thanked is long.

Not strange. Two months ago, the sports minister confirmed that Odisha has spent a whopping 11 trillion rupees, almost 125 million euros, on the World Cup. An unrivaled amount for hockey standards; Sixteen times as much as was spent for the World Cup in 2018, you can read here.

When the name Tata Steel is announced as one of the last generous lenders, a state minister of the environment is allowed to silently hand over the award.

For the second time in a row, the World Cup final will be played in the Indian state of Odisha. The capital Bhubaneswar has over a million inhabitants, but is therefore not one of the fifty largest cities in India.

And even though Odisha is the eighth largest state in India, the government sees hockey as an investment to develop Odisha. A top Indian player who now wants to break through internationally must be in Odisha. Major tournaments no longer take place in large, renowned hockey stadiums in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh or Punjab. There is no competition against the money from Odisha.

Building an impressive stadium in Rourkela with 20,000 seats for, including infrastructure, more than 20 million euros? The state government does. In the stadium in Bhubaneswar, the message is circulating that the opening ceremony alone has cost 2.5 million euros.

The state lives from mining and the steel industry. Visitors here are referred to temples as an attraction. With hockey as a tool, Odisha wants to kick-start tourism. The motto of the state is not for nothing: ‘Odisha, India’s best kept secret’.

In the stadiums it looks like a big hockey party. The games are officially sold out. Even after India’s apparently catastrophic elimination, supporters are not dropping out en masse. Even though the tickets have been kept affordable, it is a capital for most people. An average miner in this region reportedly earns 4 to 5 euros per day. And the camera records their happy faces.

That’s one side of the story.

There is no room for the other side in the hockey stadium. But in ‘the largest democracy in the world’ there is fierce opposition to the spending of the hockey millions. In addition to the World Cup stadiums, sixteen new fields have been constructed in Odisha in recent years. Almost every place has its own team. There are about 600 in Odisha. A hockey stick is a popular bridal or business gift in this region.

But many local newspapers also carried the stories of workers who believe that this money could be better spent on basic human needs. Why is money from the miners’ social welfare funds going to hockey? Are there no other needs than to use the slogan ‘Promoting hockey with heart’, as the Mining Corporation does, with the hashtag mininghappiness? Shouldn’t all those millions go to jobs, healthcare or education?

Street vendors also protested, under the banner of All Odisha Roadside Vendors Association. Thousands would have been ‘bulldozed’ to make way for the stadiums. Politicians of the opposition parties are strongly critical: fighting poverty, housing, sanitation, don’t the people in Odisha benefit more than a World Cup hockey?

These arguments are often dismissed as ‘negative’. Odisha is now known all over the world for its hockey, isn’t it? Isn’t that beautiful? Well then.