It was an evening meant to welcome the shooters for the World Cup here with a fine cultural function, but ISSF president Vladimir Lisin’s announcement that the Olympic quotas were taken away from the host at the behest of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), took the sheen away.
He quoted the issue of Pakistan’s shooters not getting visas to compete in the World Cup as the reason for IOC’s move.
“It was no fault of the organising committee, or the ISSF. It is political interference of sport.
“No athlete can be discriminated, as per the Olympic charter. So, the IOC has said no Olympic Quota places in this World Cup.
“The quota places will be distributed in another World Cup,” said Lisin even as he declared the World Cup open.
“It is disheartening. But, we can prepare better for winning the Olympic quota places in other World Cups,” said Sanjeev Rajput, who took the oath of honour, along with Heena Sidhu, at the opening ceremony.
Ironically, India had hosted the Olympic qualifying event for the Rio Games, when the IOC took the Olympic quota places from the Asian Championships hosted by Kuwait, citing a similar case of political interference.
Raninder Singh, president National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and vice president ISSF, put up a brave face saying that nothing had been decided as yet with regard to the Olympic quota places.
The Union Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was scheduled to be part of the opening ceremony, but did not make it to the shooting range.
For the first time, the World Cup in shooting will be broadcast world wide, as the ISSF has a signed the deal to that effect, starting with this event.
There will be official pre-event training on Friday, and the World Cup will start on Saturday.
