India’s Olympic association has sought approval from the Sports Ministry to boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham over shooting not being chosen as one of the events.
A lack of suitable facilities was the reason cited behind Birmingham’s decision to axe shooting, which has featured at every Games since 1966, with the exception of Edinburgh in 1970.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra has written a letter to sports minister Kiren Rijiju seeking a meeting to explain the “proposed boycott”.
“We want to express our protest by not taking part in 2022 CWG Games …” Batra wrote in his letter to the minister. “We have been noticing over a period of time that wherever India seems to be getting grip on the game and performing well … either the goalposts are shifted or rules are changed.”
Batra, also the president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), added: “We feel it is time for us in IOA/India to start asking tough questions and start taking tough positions.”
Indian shooters accounted for 16 of their 66 medals, including seven golds, at last year’s Gold Coast Games where they finished third in the medals table. In shooting’s absence, India would slip to anywhere between fifth to eighth place in 2022, Batra wrote.