Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has offered Rs. 5 crore to the Indian hockey team to enable it to participate in the World Cup. She said the State government was willing to sponsor the team for two years.
In a release here, Ms. Mayawati said if the Centre was unwilling to help the hockey team, Uttar Pradesh would be ready to bail the players out of the crisis. She alleged that the Union government was not interested in the betterment of sports, particularly hockey.