Narendra Batra, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Thursday met the Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg and president Louise Martin in New Delhi to discuss the omission of shooting from the 2022 games scheduled to be held in Birmingham.
The IOA termed the meet as fruitful, but confirmed that India can still boycott the games.
Batra, after the meet, said that the IOA discussed the issue at length with the members of CGF. He said that a number of issues related to exclusion of shooting, India’s representation in CGF committees and concerns on non-participation in CGF 2022 were discussed in the meeting.
The IOA chief further added that the conference concluded on a good note. The IOA officials, after meeting the CGF panel, met the Sports minister of India Kiren Rijiju at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) office.
On the other hand, after the meet, the CGF CEO Grevemberg maintained CGF’s stand that shooting is an optional sport and it depends on the expenses and how it can be presented by the broadcasters.
However, he further added that CGF and IOA are working closely and will collectively find a solution.
Rajeev Mehta, the Secretary-General of IOA, while talking to the media said that shooting has been an optional sport since last 74 years and it depends on the host country to decide whether to keep the sport or not.
He also echoed the sentiments of the IOA to host the 2026 edition of the Commonwealth games. Mehta said if the IOA receives green signal from the government of India, they will bid for the 2026 Games.
The Indian shooters are at their absolute best in the recent times and are considered to be best medal prospects for India in the upcoming Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Tokyo.
