CHENNAI: National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has compiled a detailed proposal to ensure that they host a Commonwealth Shooting Championships in India, months before CWG in Birmingham. The list of ideas, contained in a letter written by NRAI president Raninder Singh to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra, has three interesting clauses.
Singh outlines that “NRAI shall be solely responsible for undertaking and delivering these games.” Another says that NRAI “is willing to provide eligible athletes and their accompanying coaches/staff for this event, exclusively at its own expense, airfare to and from the venue, quality hotel lodgings, meals, all local transportation and adequate free training.” The last is the most interesting as the body has proposed to include medals won at this meet to the final tally of the Commonwealth Games.
That is what IOA and NRAI have been batting for after they realised that the Games organisers wouldn’t organise a shooting event on their own.
While this development is significant in itself, the processes involved mean it might take time to dot the Is and cross the Ts. “NRAI will work with you and government of India to develop a formal submission to the CGF for consideration early January by the CGF Sports Committee and then to the CGF Executive Board for approval,” a letter written by CGF president, Louis Martin, to Batra, states. “This proposal must be formally endorsed and submitted by the Indian Commonwealth Games Association as the official member of the CGF.”
After the IOA and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) met in November to try and arrive at a compromise, the CGF and ISSF met in December to see how best to resolve the impasse. It was there that NRAI mooted the idea of holding a separate event to compensate for the lack of shooting.
Interestingly, the ISSF and the CGF met in Munich where the above-mentioned decision was taken. The meeting, also attended by Singh in his capacity as vice-president of the ISSF, noted that: “(...) all scores rendered at this event would be considered by ISSF as potential new world record or its equal scores. Further, subject to the calendar set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the ISSF would also consider here as valid MQS scores for each Olympic event (...).”
The IOA, meanwhile, did not want to comment on this development. “We will make a decision at our annual general meeting on December 30 to see what decision we should take,” a top official said.
