[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi] SEOUL, Korea (Jan. 10, 2024) - The World Taekwondo Council today held an Extraordinary meeting in which they reinforced the federation’s commitment to sustained excellence in governance across the organisation, especially with regard to athletes.
World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue opened the meeting with a review of the excellent achievements in 2023 – World Taekwondo’s 50th anniversary – and looked forward to a successful Olympic and Paralympic year in 2024.
The Council celebrated the importance of athletes’ rights and responsibilities with the adoption of the IOC Athletes Declaration, which was unanimously approved by the WT Athletes Committee in November 2023. The declaration will be central to World Taekwondo’s ongoing focus on the importance of the athletes.
The Council heard about World Taekwondo’s global mental health survey on active athletes launched in October last year, which was one of the key initiatives of the health and well-being focus area of the Sustainability Strategy, with the results and recommendations to be published in 2024.
The Council approved the World Taekwondo Risk Management Policy and creation of a Global Integrity Unit tasked with conducting the risk assessment as well as building out an integrity framework across World Taekwondo’s Continental Unions for awareness building and monitoring and enforcement of integrity practices aligned with the IOC’s approach to integrity in sport.
The Council received reports about the fifth edition of the ASOIF Governance Review and World Taekwondo’s ambition to elevate its governance practices. This governance review exercise has 12 new and 17 revised questions, and World Taekwondo is committed to achieving the highest possible standards of governance.
World Taekwondo President Choue said:
“The purpose of today’s meeting was to enhance our governance especially in relation to the ASOIF Governance Review. We are proud that we have improved our governance level significantly but we are committed to doing more. The decisions the Council took today we are confident will have a positive impact as we strive for sustained excellence in our governance and integrity.”
The Council unanimously approved the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in World Taekwondo recognised competitions with immediate effect, as long as the athletes have already been declared eligible at World Taekwondo promoted competitions in line with IOC recommendations.
World Taekwondo had previously not allowed AIN athletes to compete in World Taekwondo recognised competitions due to the complexity of the eligibility verification process which requires a very strict process and funding. However, the Council agreed that AIN who had already fulfilled the eligibility criteria to compete in promoted competitions should therefore be eligible to compete in recognised competitions as well.
The Council will meet again for an Extraordinary meeting on the occasion of the joint training camp for coaches and referees for Paris 2024 Olympic in Muju on May 12.
