MUMBAI: Shooting has been dropped from the programme for the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games, while a mixed gender Twenty20 cricket event might make it into the the CWG fold.
On Thursday, Birmingham was revealed as the host city for the 2022 Games, after Durban, the original choice, pulled out earlier this year due to financial constraints. According to an Indian Express report, the candidate city will now be able to incorporate up to seven sports from a list of optional sports. Shooting figures on the list. Birmingham bid officials have so far chosen to include judo, table tennis, wrestling, gymnastics, diving, cycling and 3v3 basketball, apart from the 10 mandatory sports, says the report.
The programme is expected to be finalised by the end of next year. The IE report says the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) have been lobbying for inclusion of shooting as an event in the Games for months now.
While shooting’s reinstatement remains unlikely, it is learnt that the CGF is keen on having cricket at the Games. While not commenting on the possibility of a mixed-team event, CGF Chief Executive Officer David Grevemberg said they “look forward to suggesting innovative proposals… to include cricket”.
Peter Hannon, spokesperson of Commonwealth Games England told the Indian Express, “It’s a decision that the Birminghan bid as a whole has made rather than just Commonwealth Games England. The Birmingham bid made an assessment of all the optional sports and they picked the sport which were enabled to take place close to Birmingham. We’d like as many people to be a part of the Games but obviously, you are limited on the number of athletes and sport, so that forced some difficult choices.”
Shooting has been contested at every Commonwealth Games since Kingston 1966, with the exception of Edinburgh 1970.
As for the inclusion of cricket, although the suggestion to add a mixed-team cricket event has not been discussed formally yet, the Birmingham bid officials are in touch with the England and Wales Cricket Board to study the prospect of having separate men’s and women’s T20 cricket, the report says.
