New ISSF prez wants good rapport with India

Vinayak Padmadeo

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Bhopal, March 20

Luciano Rossi, the new International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) president, is eager to break from the past. Rossi beat his predecessor Vladimir Lisin by 136 to 127 votes in a bitterly fought election last November.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), led by Raninder Singh, had sided with the Russian and lost. However, Rossi said his relationship with India is important, which is why he is attending the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol here. “The president (Raninder) came to receive me at the airport in the night and I was touched. It is important that our relationship stays good,” Rossi told The Tribune.

“There is a new spirit at the ISSF and we are working together. We will defend our past and work hard for the future. India has been a big support and so that is why I am here. The only way is to work together,” he added.

Rossi said that the Athletes Commission, headed by Cassio Rippel, and the new Executive Committee are in the process of publishing a new rule book by May. The Athletes Commission wrote to the federation asking for a rule change after the previous committee changed the format of the finals.

Rossi said that they would revert to the format that was used at the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo, the 10m air pistol final was a 20-shot affair with eight shooters, and the first elimination started after the eighth shot. Thereafter, elimination happened after every two shots.

However, after the Olympics, the format was changed. The shooters first have a 20-shot semifinal round with two groups of four each. The top-two from each group get into the medals round, which consists of 30 shots. The first elimination happens after the 20th shot. The bronze medallist is decided after the 25th shot.

“You will be surprised to know that almost 95 per cent of the shooters wanted us to go back to the Tokyo rules. We are under process and I think the new match book will be ready by May,” Rossi said.

No repeat of Paris fiasco

The shooting competition for the 2024 Paris Games will be held in Chateauroux, which is 300km away from the French capital.

“For the first time shooting is out of the Olympics city, but now we repair this mistake that came from ourselves. We are working hard for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. I came back from Lausanne where I met the Chairman and CEO of the LA Games. The relationship is good, we have some problems to solve but there is a new spirit in the ISSF. We believe in cooperation and working together,” he said.

“Do not forget one of our vice-presidents is the legendary Kimberly Rhode (a six-time Olympics medallist) and she lives in LA,” he added.