World Archery has asked for greater clarity from the Commonwealth Games Federation with regards to its assessment criteria for a sport’s place in the games.
Archery was included at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, but not at the most recent event in Glasgow earlier this year, and it hasn’t been selected for the Gold Coast Games in four years’ time. There are 10 ‘core’ sports, and organising committees can add up to seven more from 20 other sporting disciplines – of which archery is one. WA secretary general Tom Dielen told Sportcal, “We definitely want to work towards being in the Commonwealth Games, not only as an optional, but as a mandatory sport. “We’d like to sit down and explore exactly what the mandatory rules are. If you don’t know whether you are definitely on the sports programme at each games, how can you plan your sport’s future?”
World Archery is hopeful that such discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation will clarify the criteria for becoming a core Commonwealth sport, which the organisation can then work towards achieving.