[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi] SEOUL, Korea (Jan. 28, 2022) - The World Taekwondo Council today awarded the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships to Cancun and the 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships to Sarajevo.

The decision was taken in a vote during today’s online extraordinary Council meeting which focused on restarting World Taekwondo Competitions. The Council considered bids from Baku (Azerbaijan), Beirut (Lebanon), and Cancun (Mexico) for the World Championships with representatives from each of the three cities delivering presentations during the meeting. Following the presentation an electronic vote was held and Cancun was awarded the Championships with 52% of the vote.

For the 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships, Queretaro (Mexico) and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) presented their candidacies to the Council. Sarajevo was awarded the event with 92% of the vote.

World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said:

“We are delighted to announce Cancun and Sarajevo as the hosts of the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships and 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships respectively. Both cities presented very strong bids and we have no doubt they will deliver wonderful competitions. Mexico has a proud history in hosting excellent World Taekwondo events including World Championships and Grand Prixes and we are sure Cancun will build on this heritage. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will be the first time they have hosted a World Taekwondo event and we believe this will act as a catalyst for the further growth of the sport in the country. Today’s meeting showed how much interest there is in hosting World Taekwondo events and we are committed to restarting our competitions this year in a safe and successful manner.”

The World Championships had been scheduled to take place in Wuxi, China in April 2022 following the postponement of last year’s Championships due to COVID-19. However, Wuxi withdrew from hosting the event this year due to the ongoing pandemic and to protect the health and wellbeing of all athletes, officials and organizers.

On April 21-24, World Taekwondo will also host the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Goyang, Korea. During the pandemic over the last two years, World Taekwondo has hosted the online Poomsae challenge series which has allowed grassroots athletes all over the world to engage in the sport.

During the Council meeting, President Choue announced the World Taekwondo Children’s Championships will be launched to engage young people in the sport. The Council also passed amendments to the competition rules for more dynamic and exciting competitions.

It was also explained that Kukkiwon has nominated Mr. Chunjae Park as their representative in the World Taekwondo Council as per the Statutes and he will be invited to the next meeting.

The next Extraordinary Council meeting will take place in Goyang in a hybrid format during the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.