WTF - ITF Merger is Near?
By WTF, ETU
Monday, December 04, 2006
The dispute between WTF and ITF about who represents the original Taekwondo system has been going on for decades but WTF has succeeded in internationally being recognized as the one Taekwondo Sports Federation receiving Olympic consecretion. Therefore there is no doubt that WTF holds the unchallenged throne of representing the world's majority of Taekwondo competitors.
Nevertheless, ITF still exists and even if there are ongoing troubles about having splitted up into three factions, everyone of those claiming to be the 'real' ITF, still there are many Taekwondo players in the world who feel close to ITF when exercising their sport or martial art. Knowing this, there have been a number of trials to incorporate ITF or at least reach some kind of merger where all Taekwondo people - traditional or modern - can feel really at home.
This is no easy task and WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue has finally met ITF President Chang Ung, the North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee on December 2nd 2006 in Doha/Quatar to sign an agreement for the establishment of a coordination committee to discuss integration matters of the two taekwondo bodies.
Under the pact, the two parties will set up the Coordination Committee for Taekwondo Integration, which will start on simultaneous discussions regarding the integration of technical and administrative aspects of the two taekwondo bodies. Both parties, however, agreed to first reach an agreement on the integration of technical matters before any decision can be taken on administrative integration, in respect of their initial agreement on June 28, 2005.
The two sides met on four occasions in Beijing, China for the formation of the coordination committee. The first round of working-level talks took place on June 28, 2005, with the second and third rounds of talks on Aug. 30, 2005 and Feb. 24, 2006, respectively. The fourth and final meeting was held on Nov. 24-25, 2006.
The integration talks between the two taekwondo organizations restarted after the meeting among the presidents of the IOC, the WTF and the ITF, at the IOC headquarters on June 3, 2005. On Sept. 20, 2006, the three met again at the headquarters of the IOC, where the IOC president coordinated the ongoing WTF-ITF talks. The IOC President proposed that the coordination committee start simultaneously discussions on technical and administrative aspects of the two bodies “under the condition that an agreement should first be reached on the subject of integration of technical rules before any decision can be taken on administrative merger integration.”
A unification of WTF and ITF for sure would be a major step for even more popularization of Taekwondo and it would guarantee a firm root in the Olympic movement for the future. Lets see what the talks will bring and how fast this ambitious goal can be reached.
