Government of Odisha has signed an agreement with Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) at Kalinga Stadium to become the organization’s official sponsors till 2023. This partnership will see facilitating high-performance training, conditioning, and incentivizing the Indian national rugby teams (men & women) participating in international rugby events.
In recent years, there has been a steady rise of Rugby in India. The efforts of Rugby India have increased popularity and participation across the country. Odisha has produced some famous names in Indian Rugby. The Eastern state has been promoting Rugby amongst other sports disciplines.
Along with improving the quality of rugby in India, this partnership will also aim at providing support to the Indian Rugby teams to win laurels for the country at the International level.
The government of Odisha has been the backbone of many sports, home for many national sports centers and high-performance training centers. The current association perfectly aligns with the government’s aim to nurture young talent and create a pathway for young players to win trophies at the international level. The first edition of the Khelo India Youth Games was also conducted at Kalinga University – Bhubaneswar, one of the biggest youth sports event of the year.
The partnership is based on the Odisha Government’s mission to develop, promote, and expand the Sports ecosystem beyond Hockey and Football. After signing a deal to sponsor the National Hockey teams in 2018 and supporting the state’s ISL team,, the Odisha government has set another benchmark by sponsoring the National Rugby Teams.