ISSF Executive Committee takes key decisions in Munich

Cmte voted and approved important agenda points

MUNICH, Germany, Nov 7: The ISSF Executive Committee met in Munich, Germany, on Nov 6. The Committee voted and approved several important agenda points related to championships reorganization, rules, stakeholders inclusion, gender equality and Tokyo 2020 Olympic quota places allocation.

The ISSF Executive Committee unanimously decided to reorganize the World Cup Final calendar, holding the competition once every two years, to not conflict with the Olympic Games and the World Championship. The ISSF Technical Committee will review the qualification process for the Finals during their next meetings.

At the same time, the Executive Committee approved the possibility for ISSF Championships Organizers to schedule grand-prix competitions in non-Olympic events within the frame of ISSF World Cup and ISSF Junior World Cup stages. Detailed rules will be published soon.

The proposal of the German Shooting Federation (DSB) to organize a World Master shooting Championship was also given the green light.

These moves fall in the context of a wider reorganization of the ISSF Championships calendar, which was proposed by the Executive Committee at their meeting in March 2016.

With the aim to rationalize the yearly competitions schedule, a new Championships calendar will be proposed to the ISSF General Assembly in November 2018. This proposal includes World Championships every two year and Junior World Championships every two years. In every four-year Olympic cycle there will be one world championship each year. This responds to requests from ISSF Member Federations and stakeholders, and at the same time would improve media exposure for the sport and ease marketing activities both at international and national level.

Following a decision taken by the 2017 ISSF Extraordinary General Assembly, the Executive Committee reviewed the implementation of the ISSF Forum 2024, an inclusive forum that will serve as a platform of discussion, information and feedback among ISSF bodies and stakeholders. The forum will start-off as an online tool, which will be released in the next months. The forum will be moderated by Executive Committee member Robert Mitchell. Further details will be published on www.issf-sports. org.

After a comprehensive report from ISSF Technical Committee chairman Joerg Brokamp, and a presentation delivered by ISSF Vice President Gary Anderson, the Executive Committee agreed to recommend a series of ISSF rules changes, which will be forwarded to the ISSF Administrative Council for final approval.

The recommendation includes final rules for the new Mixed Team events that will feature continuous elimination formats. These events were approved by the ISSF and the IOC for inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games shooting program.

The Executive Committee, after almost an year of discussion and analysis, decided to recommend that the number of shots / targets in men’s and women’s events be equalized. This decision will increase the number of shots / targets in women’s events.

The ISSF Executive Committee revised the proposed rules for allocating Tokyo 2020 Olympic quota places, which will be forwarded to the IOC for their final approval. This is expected to happen in February 2018.

A photo during the ISSF Executive committee meeting.

The ISSF aims to achieve full gender equality — both in terms of events and quota places. In Tokyo, there will be 180 men and 180 women, participating in 3 Mixed Team, and 6 men’s and 6 women’s individual events.

According to the proposed rule, quota place allocation will start from the 2018 ISSF World Championship to be held in in Changwon (KOR) from the 31st of August through the 14th of September. The proposed process also includes some quota places to be assigned through world rankings.

Full details of the allocation process will be published as soon as a final decision on the matter is received from the IOC.

The ISSF Executive Committee received a report on the ongoing preparations for the 2018 ISSF Shotgun World Cup stage in Malta, where a new shooting complex is being built. Even if the construction of the venue experienced some delays, both the Organizing Committee and the ISSF Technical Delegate for the competition have assured the ISSF that the preparations will be completed according to the schedule. The range will be finished in March 2018, in time to be tested and host the competition from June 5 to 15, 2018. The Executive Committee therefore confirmed the allocation of the World Cup Stage.

“Thank you very much for the positive work we conducted here today,” the ISSF President Olegario Vázquez Raña said in his closing remarks. “I feel very happy that this meeting was working in favor of shooting sport. We are moving forward some important steps, ensuring gender equality, rationalizing our championships program, and responding to our stakeholders, in order to strengthen the shooting sport family.”