- Monday, 25 December 2017
International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) secretary general Franz Schreiber has admitted the governing body is "very disappointed" at the decision by Birmingham 2022 to omit the sport from the Commonwealth Games programme.
In a statement sent to insidethegames, Schreiber claimed, however that the global governing body had not given up hope of the sport featuring at the 2022 Games in the British city.
Birmingham 2022 has offered no indication that they plan to change their current stance.
Birmingham were officially awarded the 2022 Commonwealth Games last Thursday (December 21).
Ian Ward, who led the successful bid and is the current head of the Birmingham City Council, revealed to insidethegames that the decision not to include shooting was driven by the limit of athletes and the lack of a venue.
Shooting has been contested at every Commonwealth Games since Kingston 1966, with the exception of Edinburgh 1970.
It was thought unlikely that it would be included as part of Birmingham's plans as the closest Olympic-standard shooting range to the city is 130 miles away in Bisley in Surrey.
"Naturally, we are very disappointed in the fact that shooting is not included in the sports programme for Birmingham 2022, at this point," Schreiber said.
"The ISSF is already in contact with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) with a view to discussing the future of our sport in the Games, which will include exploring possibilities for inclusion in 2022."
Birmingham has not included shooting as part of its programme
for the 2022 Commonwealth Games ©Birmingham 2022
The ISSF had previously urged all cities bidding to replace Durban as hosts of the 2022 Commonwealth Games to include the sport on the programme.
Liverpool, which lost out to Birmingham in the race to be Britain's candidate, had also omitted shooting from its proposal.
Shooting currently features on the CGF's list of optional sports from which a Games candidate city can include up to seven.
It is due to be contested at next year's Games in Gold Coast and was initially selected as an optional sport by Durban, stripped of the event by the CGF in March after failing to meet a series of financial guarantees.
India are among those to be disappointed by Birmingham 2022's decision.
They are currently second on the all-time medal table having won 56 gold, 40 silver and 22 bronze.
The Indian Olympic Association are likely to voice their opposition to both Birmingham 2022 and the CGF.
Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source: - https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1059472/exclusive-issf-to-lobby-birmingham-2022-and-cgf-to-have-shooting-restored-to-programme
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