IOC restricts withdrawal of Olympic quotas to 25m rapid fire pistol event

The governing body of international shooting, the ISSF, has been asked to present proposals to the IOC for distributing the two revoked Olympic quota places.

The logo of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup on display at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, in New Delhi.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has "restricted the withdrawal of recognition as an Olympic qualification event, to the 25m rapid fire pistol competition in which the two Pakistani athletes were supposed to participate", according to an official release from the Olympic body.

It was a big relief for the host, as the ISSF president, Vladimir Lisin, had announced during the inauguration of the shooting World Cup on Thursday evening that the IOC had directed the withdrawal of the Olympic quotas owing to the Pakistani shooters not getting the visas to compete in Delhi.

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A lot was salvaged as the IOC restricted the withdrawal to only the two Olympic quota places in rapid fire pistol, from among the total of 16 on offer in rifle and pistol, "in the interest of the other 500 athletes from 61 countries participating in the other events who are already in India for their competition", as per the IOC statement.

The governing body of international shooting, the ISSF, has been asked to present proposals to the IOC for distributing the two revoked Olympic quota places in rapid fire pistol.

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The IOC also revealed that the "intense last-minute joint efforts by the IOC, the ISSF and the Indian NOC, and discussions with the Indian government authorities, no solution has been found to allow the Pakistani delegation to enter India in time to compete".

It was against the Olympic charter that "equal treatment must be guaranteed for all participating athletes and sporting delegations at international sports events, without any form of discrimination or political interference from the host country."

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As a fall out of the current scenario, the IOC Executive Board has decided to recommend to all the International Federations to "neither award, nor hold sports events in India" until clear written guarantees are obtained from the Indian government to ensure the entry of all participants in such events in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter.

This will, of course, be only for the Olympic-related events and sports covered under the umbrella of the IOC.