IOC dumps Kuwait, India in line to host shooting meet
President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach attends a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, August 19, 2015. (Reuters photo)
India is among the three countries in the running to replace Kuwait as the host of the final Olympic qualifying shooting event after the Gulf nation was stripped off its rights by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday.
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh said they have submitted a bid to the Asian Shooting Confederation to host the continental event, which will now be held in either January or February next year. Qatar and Kazakhstan are the other two countries who have expressed interest in hosting the tournament.
The Asian Championships were scheduled to be held in Kuwait from November 1 and was supposed to be the final Olympic qualifier, but the IOC’s executive board stripped the country of its rights on Thursday as the Kuwait Olympic Committee was already suspended owing to government interference. The IOC also took into account the case where the Kuwaiti immigration department denied visa to Yair Davidovich of Israel, who was due to supervise the event on behalf of the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF).
“Upon request of the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF), the IOC Executive Board revoked the Olympic qualification status of the Asian Shooting Championship taking place in Kuwait City between 1 and 12 November,” the IOC said in a statement.
The ISSF will now have to allocate another event from which Asian shooters can qualify for the Rio Olympics. It is expected that the new hosts will be announced in a week’s time. Raninder, meanwhile, said Indian shooters will take part in the Asian Championships in Kuwait, which continues to remain a prestigious event. India has so far won eight quotas — Jitu Rai, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Apurvi Chandela, Gurpreet Singh, Prakash Nanjappa, Chain Singh and Mairaj Khan.
Although more than 40 countries have confirmed participation in the Kuwait City Asian Championships, it is a big blow to the Indian shooters as they were banking on the last chance to bag some more Olympic quota places for next year’s Rio Games.
