The Odisha Government will pay the Indian Rugby Football Union (also known as Rugby India) ₹3 crore as sponsor of National teams over three years.
Sharing this information with The Hindu Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera said: “The high performance player remuneration will be provided to India’s men and women’s teams in rugby 15s, rugby 7s, under-20 rugby 15s and 7s, under-18 rugby 7s towards players camp fees, tour fees, match fees, bonus, nutrition and welfare.”
Behera said the National rugby teams “will have access to our Sports Science Centre, the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance facility, six times a year during their camps in Bhubaneswar.”
The Minister said Odisha, which has hosted several international events, including the Asia Rugby 7s' under-18 girls’ championship in October 2018, “looks forward to hosting bigger international rugby matches at the Kalinga Stadium.”
Taking into account the rise of players like Sumitra Nayak and Hupi Majhi and KISS winning the women’s title in the Khelo India University Games, Behera said such success stories brought ‘aspirational values’ to the youngsters in the State.
“The association with Rugby India will help nurture talent, create a pathway to elite (level) and produce more players from the State who can bring laurels to the country,” said Behera.
