Commonwealth Games 2022 considers hosting shooting event 4,000 miles away from host city Birmingham in India
India won 26 gold medals in the 2018 Gold Cost Commonwealth Games, seven of which were in shooting
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Your support makes all the difference.The Commonwealth Games Federation has confirmed it is considering an unprecedented move to host shooting and archery events 4,000 miles away from the Midlands in India, months before the events start in July 2022.
India threatened to boycott the games after shooting was omitted from the schedule but they agreed to participate last month and have since proposed that shooting and archery be hosted in India instead.
India won 26 gold medals in the 2018 Gold Cost Commonwealth Games, seven of which were in shooting, as they went on to finish third in the medal table. As such they are aiming to ensure that shooting and archery go ahead and are willing to foot the potential £20m bill of hosting the events.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg will host a meeting in February to consider India's offer to host the events either in New Delhi or Chandigarh.
"The CGF can confirm that it has now officially received a proposal from Commonwealth Games India [CGI] to host a Commonwealth shooting event and potentially an archery event in India during 2022, the year of the XXII Commonwealth Games," Grevemberg said in a statement.
"The proposal is supported by the National Rifle Association of India [NRAI], the Government of India, the International Shooting Sport Federation and World Archery. The proposal will be reviewed and considered in January and February by the CGF and discussed with Birmingham 2022 delivery partners."
After talks, the 71 Commonwealth member associations will vote on whether India will host the events, with the medals won counting towards the Commonwealth Games table.
Birmingham 2020 were unwilling to host the optional events as they were due to be based far from the city in Bisley, Surrey, initially prompting outcry from India.
The news that the events may be hosted thousands of miles away comes a month after the Paris 2024 Olympics Games planners opted to host surfing in Tahiti, more than 10,000 miles from the French capital.
Tahiti is part of French Polynesia, an overseas administrative division of France which is semi-autonomous, and it will host surfing for the event's second outing after it makes its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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