New Delhi, Oct 05, 2016: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), today revealed a Report of the Rio Olympics Review Committee, in the presence of the Mr. Raninder Singh, President, NRAI, and Mr. Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic Gold medalist ever and Chairman of the Review Committee. Sports Administrator and former Asian Games medalist, Ms. Manisha Malhotra and Senior Journalists Kamesh Srinivasan and Digvijay Singh Deo, were the other members of the independent committee, which was constituted by the NRAI President, post the Rio no-show by the 12-member Indian Shooting contingent.
The report ran into 36 pages and scrutinized the performance of each of the 12 participating shooters at Rio. A host of stakeholders including coaches, former and present shooters, concerned federation and government officials as well as the 12 Shooters who participated at the Rio games were spoken to or interviewed by the Committee. The report finds fault with the overall planning and preparation monitoring processes and systems of the NRAI, while also pointing to multiple agencies working at cross-purposes adding to the Shooter’s woes. It calls for an overhaul of established structures, particularly those pertaining to coaching and selection. Among its many recommendations were the appointment of a High Performance Manager and the constitution of a credible panel of experts to appoint coaches. The report also underlines the importance of a National Coach and envisions a pre-eminent role for the National Coach in the overall development the Indian National Shooting squad.
Commenting at the unveiling of the Review Committee report,
Mr. Raninder Singh, President, NRAI, said, “The report was submitted to my office by Abhinav last week and in spite of having the option of keeping the report confidential, we decided to go public in the best interests of the sport of Shooting and all its patrons. The report advises the NRAI to take a long hard look at itself and has some very healthy suggestions. I congratulate the committee members on behalf of the Shooting fraternity of India for doing such a professional job and will soon take up its implementation with the Governing Body. The NRAI will not hesitate to take the toughest measures in the interest of Indian Shooting.”
Also, sharing his views, Mr. Abhinav Bindra, Chairman of the NRAI Review Committee, said, “As a professional athlete who spent over 20 years within the Indian framework and system, I do believe that the reform recommended in this report will create a platform for my fellow shooters which I never had access to. I reiterate that it was a bold step by the NRAI to even admit that there needs to be change, we hope they will take the next step and actually implement the changes that are required for the growth of our sport.”
Shooting is one of India’s most successive Olympic Sports, with four medals won in three successive Olympics between 2004-2012, including India’s only individual Gold medal. The run was halted at Rio, when the squad returned empty handed belying huge expectations as well as the fact that a record number of 12 Shooters had qualified for the Olympics.
NRAI REVIEW COMMITTEE REPORT FINAL