Shooting excluded from Birmingham Commonwealth Games programme

The Executive Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) met on Thursday and decided that Shooting will be excluded from the 2022 Commonwealth Games programme. This will serve as a huge blow to India, who won as many as 16 medals, including seven gold, at the 2018 edition of the competition which was held in Australia.

In addition to that, the international commission approved the inclusion of women's cricket, beach volleyball and para table tennis into the Games programme 2022 edition which will take place in Birmingham.The inclusion of these three sports will need to receive the backing of 51 percent of the CGF members next month.

"Our recommendation of adding women's cricket, beach volleyball and Para table tennis is the result of a thorough review and we believe these sports would help us to enhance the existing programme and reach new audiences, while showcasing the sports to our local community, spectators and fans across the world, watching on TV.

"It's also a selection that could help ensure that the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be the most inclusive in history, with a potential for the largest ever para-sports programme and more female medallists than ever before, representing a great story not just for Birmingham 2022, but for women's sport in general,"  said Ian Reid, CEO of Birmingham 2022.

Last year, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh, wanted the Indian government to boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games if shooting was dropped from the programme.