ISSF's decision means that the men's double trap event, the men's 50m rifle prone event and the men's 50m pistol event will not be held at Tokyo 2020.

New Delhi: The ISSF Executive Committee and Administrative Council has unanimously approved the recommendation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme that aims to achieve gender equality and retain 15 Olympic events. The recommendation will, however, have to be ratified by International Olympic Committee (IOC) to effect the changes.

"Yes, we have changed three events in the Olympic programme and changed to mixed gender team events. This is a proposal which is now going to the International Olympic committee for further consideration. The final decision lies in the hands of IOC," International Shooting Sport Federation secretary general Franz Schreiber told the media on Thursday. "This is a necessary change which according to the IOC needs to be done because of the gender equality in the Olympic programme," he added.

After an exhaustive two-year evaluation process, the ISSF Ad-Hoc Committee recommended replacing the double trap men's event with a trap mixed gender team event, the 50m rifle prone men's event with a 10m air rifle mixed gender team event and the 50m pistol men's event with a 10m air pistol mixed gender team event. This proposal was developed to preserve discipline parity and retain 15 Olympic shooting events — five rifle, five pistol and five shotgun.

Views of all stakeholders of the sport were taken into consideration, he said.

"We had a very detailed discussion, had many, many meetings and this was a very long procedure. And finally a decision was taken for the betterment of the sport."

The recommendation will be forwarded to the IOC by February 28, the IOC deadline for international federations to submit their 2020 programme proposals. The IOC Programme Commission will then evaluate the proposal and the IOC Executive Board will decide the 2020 Olympic shooting events programme later this summer.

"We believe this is a fundamental step forward for our beloved sport. We fully support gender equality, and our Committees have worked very hard to develop a Tokyo 2020 proposal that will support the future growth of our sport," ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Rana said in a statement.

"We want to retain 15 Olympic events, preserve equality in our three disciplines — rifle, pistol and shotgun — and offer all female and male athletes the same opportunities. Shooting is one of the oldest and most universal sports of the world; inclusion is part of our DNA."

The ISSF Executive Committee and Administrative Council met in the capital on February 21 and 22. The agenda of the meetings included the discussion of recommendations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic shooting programme, the implementation of agenda 2020 principles regarding sustainability, and the designation of 2018 and 2019 ISSF Championships organisers.