Athletes Commission suggests stringent measures against erring shooters

The NRAI Athletes Commission recommends steps to discourage shooters from juggling with the senior and junior competition.

Representative Image: The Athletes Commission stressed that a shooter cannot skip a camp without prior permission from the National Federation.

When a shooter gets selected for an international competition, he or she has to compulsorily compete in that event. The Athletes Commission of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has suggested stringent measures to discourage shooters from juggling with the senior and junior competition, without offering clarity to the national federation about their choice in advance.

The case in point was a junior shooter who was selected to compete in a Junior World Cup, but opted to skip it so as to be available for the selection trials for the senior team.

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The Athletes Commission said that such a shooter should inform the NRAI in advance before the selection committee meeting, about the unavailability. “In case the selected shooter does not represent India and skips the international competition after getting selected, then he/she should be fined the equivalent of the entry fee plus other expenses incurred by the NRAI. The concerned shooter should also be debarred from getting selected for the next international competition,” said the decision of the Athletes Commission.

Taking serious view of the attendance in the national camp, it was stressed that a shooter cannot skip a camp without prior permission from the National Federation.

The erring shooters “should be debarred from the national camp for the rest of the shooting calendar year,” was the decision of the Athletes Commission.

Conceding the importance of private coaches, it was specified categorically that the shooters would be solely under the care of the national coaches once they are in the national camp or in international competitions.

“If a shooter is not willing to submit to the guidance of the National coach in that particular event, then it is for the NRAI to take suitable action which may include debarring the shooter from the next international competition,” said the Athletes Commission.

With Moraad Ali Khan as the Chairman and with other shooters Anuja Jung, Sonia Rai, Vikram Bhatnagar and Ashok Mittal as members, the Athletes Commission also requested the NRAI to provide its email address on its website so as to help shooters have quick access.