WTF Approves Amendments to Para-Taekwondo Competition Rules, Mauritania as New Member to Increase Global Membership to 206. The World Taekwondo Federation unanimously approved amendments to the WTF Competition Rules and Statutes on para-taekwondo at its General Assembly in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei on March 19, 2014. The WTF General Assembly, which took place at the Grand Hotel in Taipei City, also approved the African country of Mauritania as its new member to increase its global membership to 206, one of the biggest among the International Sport Federations under the International Olympic Committee. The approved new WTF Competition Rules include new articles concerning competition in para-taekwondo and deaf-taekwondo. The General Assembly also passed an amendment to the WTF Poomsae Competition Rules on the competition in para-taekwondo and deaf-taekwondo. Under the newly amended WTF Statutes, the WTF World Deaf-Taekwondo Championships were newly added to the WTF-promoted championships. A day earlier on March 18, the WTF Council approved the USA Taekwondo to host the 1st WTF World Deaf-Taekwondo Championships in either the U.S. city of Salt Lake City in Utah, or Reno in Nevada in November 2015. The Council also decided to give Russia the right to host the 5th WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in Moscow, Russia on June 21-22, 2014, together with a para-taekwondo symposium for the first time. The Council also approved the WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix events for 2014 and 2015. The Council gave the right to host the first two World Grand Prix series for this year to Astana, Kazakhstan and Suzhou, China in July, with the order to be decided at a later date. The third Grand Prix series will be held in Manchester, the UK in October, with the Grand Prix final set to take place in Mexico, mostly in Queretaro, in December. With the WTF Council approval, the 2015 Grand Prix series will take place in Suzhou, China, followed by the Great Britain and Russia, while the Grand Prix final will take place in Mexico, mostly in Mexico City, in December 2015. There are ever-better days ahead in 2014. Reaching out to more people through taekwondo is the big task for the year. Concerted efforts to promote and develop para-taekwondo are part of this goal, WTF President Chungwon Choue said at the WTF General Assembly. Choue continued to say, We are on track: Para-taekwondo was invited to the 2nd phase application process of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. I received many congratulatory letters from you regarding this, but I am not the one to be congratulated. You are the ones who made it happen. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board will meet in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 6-7 this year to decide the sports for the official program for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. Over the last 10 months, the WTF has signed a memorandum of understanding with all of the five international para-sports organizations: the INAS, the CPISRA (Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association), the ICSD (International Committee of Sports for the Deaf), the IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation), and the IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation). The participants in the WTF General Assembly received a progress report on para-taekwondo. They also received a progress report on the 1st WTF World Cadet Taekwondo Championships, the 9th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, and the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships. The WTF General Assembly took place one day before the opening of the two-day WTF Qualification Tournament for the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, which will be held at the Taipei Arena in downtown Taipei City. The Qualification Tournament has attracted a total of 366 athletes from a record 100 countries. After a one-day break, the tournament will be followed by the 10th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships at the same venue. The championships have drawn a total of 780 athletes from a record 103 countries.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:51:44 +0000
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