No Commonwealth Shooting C'ships in India during 2022 CWG: CGF

The exclusion of shooting from the 2022 Birmingham Games gained a lot of attention, especially from India for which the sport is the biggest medal prospect.

Earlier, there had been media speculations that during the upcoming Commonwealth Games a Commonwealth Shooting Championship will be held and the medals won in that (shooting) event could be added to the tally of the respective countries.

However, on Monday (December 9), the Commonwealth Games Federation made it clear that they have no plans to hold it so as to make up for the sport’s axing from the multi-sport showpiece.

The CGF said there was no formal proposal made to the ISSF to conduct a Commonwealth Shooting Championships when its chief Louise Martin and CEO David Grevemberg met the top brass of the world body on Friday in Munich.

“Although a Commonwealth Shooting Championships is among one of several ideas being discussed with the ISSF, nothing has been formally proposed, let alone agreed upon, with any of our partners,” Grevemberg said in a statement.

“Therefore, media speculation around what this event could look like, and what medals won at such an event could mean in the context of the Commonwealth Games, is extremely premature,” he added.

Also read: No difference of opinion with IOA president on 2022 CWG boycott: Secy Gen

In fact, the Indian Olympic Association, which threatened withdrawal from the 2022 CWG to protest against the dropping of shooting, had proposed that medals at such an event be added to the tally of the respective countries. The proposal was made during a meeting of IOA officials with their CGF counterparts in India last month.

IOA chief Narinder Batra had even said that India would not be interested to take part in a Commonwealth Shooting Championships if the medals are not added to the country’s tally of the 2022 CWG.

Grevemberg said the CGF Constitution “states that a Commonwealth Championships may not be held in any country three months prior to or after the Commonwealth Games, and only with the approval of the CGF Executive Board”.

On the meeting with the ISSF officials, he said, “We (CGF and ISSF) are both committed to developing the sport of shooting across the Commonwealth and have agreed to work together closely to achieve this objective.

“The ISSF are aware that shooting was not selected as an optional sport for Birmingham 2022 following a comprehensive and transparent review process while the CGF and ISSF both remain committed to creating opportunities for Commonwealth athletes to compete on the biggest and best stage possible.”

Grevemberg said the CGF’s meeting with the ISSF was built on the positive discussions in November with the IOA led by Batra.

(With inputs from agencies)