World Archery Federation and the Foundation for Global Sports Development will jointly provide monetary assistance to archers who are set to compete in Olympics.
Bangladesh’s premier archer Ruman Shana along with 34 other archers representing 19 countries will get this grants of USD 1,90,000. World Archery Electoral Board Member and Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF) General Secretary Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol informed the media that Shana would get USD 5,000 as monetary assistance from the global bodies.
The grant is for archers who have been going through tough economic conditions as their income has plummeted due to the lack of competitions.
“As far as I know, he (Shana) will get USD 5,000, though World Archery hasn’t made any official announcement yet. It is not for everyone. Only the archer competing in Olympic will get this grant,” he said.
Some 122 archers applied for the grants, but the selection committee decided for 35. The committee had fixed some criteria for the applicants. Eligible archers were those who took part in international events in 2018 or 2019 and their incomes witnessed significant decrease due to the pandemic.
The Bangladeshi archer made the cut as he claimed several significant achievements in 2019. He secured a quota place for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and country’s first bronze in the World Archery Championship in June.
“Coach (BAF head coach Martin Frederick) helped me a lot to get this grant. I went through a long procedure and many formalities to apply for this grant. Now, feeling a bit better. I will spend the money to improve my game,” Shana said in his reaction.