It was a momentous occasion when the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) and the International Military Sports Council (CISM) signed a Convention of Collaboration in February.
The cooperation made perfect sense – bringing together a key component of military sport, supported by us. ISSF President Luciano Rossi met with the ISSF Ambassador within CISM, Walter Borghino to sign the agreement, formalising a relationship that had its foundations built, years back.
Borghino worked within the CISM in administrative positions since 2003, before becoming ISSF Ambassador last year. He was Chief to the President’s Cabinet, before becoming a member on the Board of Directors for 12 years. He also spent 11 years as President of the CISM Sports Commission. While this experience kept him known to ISSF staff, his working relationship with President Rossi goes back to the pair working together on a national level.
Borghino was the Commanding Officer in the Italian Army Sport Club for six years and the Vice-President of the Italian Boxing Federation for eight years, while Rossi served as the President of the Italian Target Shooting Federation.
Recently, Borghino spoke at the CISM General Assembly in Colombo, Sri Lanka in front of dozens of nations. It gave him the opportunity to spread awareness of the agreement with ISSF and the benefits of it. For ISSF and CISM, the focus has been on developing the sport by lending knowledge to each other, and aligning on goals and objectives. Educational initiatives and training of officials are also part of the collaboration, as well as the development of women’s shooting and Para-shooting.
For Borghino, his first task was to liaise with the President of the CISM Shooting Commission and build contacts to implement a robust sports calendar, which has become streamlined since working with the ISSF.
Borghino said: “Organisers normally refer to the Minister of Defence, they don't have contact with the civilian part and so I open the door; I say, please, be informed that now you have a counterpart, you have support, also from the civilian point of view and not just militarily.”
“Sometimes it's very difficult for them [organisers] to get in touch with the national shooting federation, because they don't have contact, so from now on, I am the link to the ISSF.”
He held discussions with the ISSF President when he initially noticed there was no formal bridge between the organisations and highlighted the potential benefits. Rossi agreed, holding a similar view on the matter.
For Borghino, this was his first CISM General Assembly as the ISSF Ambassador and as a civilian, rather than part of the military – having recently retired. He made it clear in his speech he would “support ISSF commitments” but “with the vision also in the military”. He also encouraged members in attendance to engage with the new partnership and bring feedback to the table.
He brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, stressing he has had many opportunities during his career to see experience different cultures in his decision-making.
“I have had opportunities to visit a lot of different countries and also ideas and models to approach the sport organisation, the sport environment, because it's clear that Africa is different from Asia and it's different from South America and Europe, so I have some pillars that are unique for that sport and other pillars that are common to all sports,” he said.
“I believe that to be ambassador of something, you need to have a good knowledge of this and now I am more than available to give ISSF my support, but also to be part of events or meetings.
“In my opinion, is necessary to be more present, and to be involved in activity, so my goal for the immediate future is to be more involved in ISSF, in order to have more information, and to have more tools, to use in my position.”
He mentioned the importance of retaining nations that are interested in shooting, who may have withdrawn from competition in recent years, who can be useful hosts for future events and bolster the depth of military shooting sport.
Now, Borghino is focused on finding new hosts and building collaboration with CISM members and more work with the ISSF. He mentions the importance of catering to all shooting disciplines and his optimism for the future of this partnership.
“We are at the beginning of the story, but in the next year, we can have a very clear idea, what is the sense of this collaboration, and if, we need to change something, or maybe to be more proactive in some place or not, but this is what I'm doing with Mr. Rossi,” said Borghino.
“I will inform step-by-step, about the process, and I hope that he, and also ISSF as a whole, will be, will be very happy with the feedback of this collaboration.”