Pakistan not hosting Asian Shotgun Cup

KARACHI: The scarcity of foreign exchange and restrictions regarding imports have resulted in Pakistan losing the hosting rights of Asian Shotgun Cup.

It has been learnt that National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) has excused itself from hosting Asian Shotgun Cup in Lahore in January next year.

However, the unprecedented rains and floods across Pakistan have been cited as the reasons for the inability of the country to host this event.

“The government first imposed a ban on the import which badly affected the event’s preparations,” said an official of NRAP.

The official added that there was a set requirement for this level of international event to keep the inventory of four different kinds of world class ammunition for participation. “Though the ban was lifted later, the unavailability of foreign exchange hindered the import of the ammunition,” said the official.

Besides, the official added, technical delegates would have to be paid their fee in dollars so that too would be affected by the scarcity of forex.

“This whole situation has made it impossible for NRAP to host the event. It was better to excuse at this moment instead of doing it at the last minute,” said the official.

The official added that around 15 countries were expected to participate in this championship.”We are not bidding for any international event in the near future after this embarrassment,” said the official.

After the refusal of NRAP, the Asian Shooting Confederation’s Executive Committee Members granted the hosting rights of Asian Shotgun Cup 2023 to Kuwait Shooting Federation (KSF) from February 20 to March 2.