By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 23 May: The Sports Department has clarified that, while several sports complexes in Uttarakhand have been renamed, the names of individual stadiums and existing infrastructure remain totally unchanged. The department has claimed that this decision aims to improve identification for players and visitors participating in competitions hosted at these venues.
It may be recalled that certain media reports have been recently claiming that the government has renamed the famous Vandana Kataria Hockey Stadium in Haridwar along with the names of certain other stadiums in Uttarakhand. The government has now come out with a clarification in this regard. The sports department asserts that only the names of certain sports complexes have ben changed.
Under this initiative, Raipur Sports Complex in Dehradun has been renamed Rajat Jayanti Sports Complex, the Golapar Sports Complex in Haldwani as Manaskhand Sports Complex, Rudrapur Sports Complex in Udham Singh Nagar as Shivalik Sports Complex, and Roshanabad Sports Complex in Haridwar as Yoga Sthali Sports Complex. It may be recalled that it was the name Yoga Sthali Sports Complex given to Roshanabad Sports Complex in district Haridwar that had raised eyebrows as the stadium located in that complex is named after Vandana Kataria, a celebrated hockey player from Uttarakhand. Born on 15 April 1992 in Roshnabad, Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, Vandana chose to pursue a career in Hockey. After a glorious career with 320 international caps and 158 goals, she retired as the most capped player in the history of Indian women’s hockey.
A statement issued today by the Additional Director, Sports, Ajay Kumar Aggarwal clarified that the names of Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Indira Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Vandana Kataria Hockey Stadium, Manoj Sarkar Stadium, and other facilities, including multipurpose halls, swimming pools, velodromes, and hockey grounds, remain unchanged. The newly assigned names apply only to the sports complexes as a whole.
Aggarwal strongly refuted reports circulating in a section of media and social media, regarding change of names of certain stadiums in the state. The Sports Department reaffirmed that only the entire sports complex has been named for better identification, and all existing infrastructure will continue to be known by its original name. Future sports facilities established within these complexes will be integrated under the respective complex names.
