The World Taekwondo (WT) informed that for the first time in its history it will hold a General Assembly virtually.
Due to the global context caused by the Coronavirus COVID-19 and after the cancellation of the 2020 Sofia Junior World Championships, the meeting of the 210 members, Council members and Committees will be by videoconference on October 06.
WT also revealed that October 5 will be the Executive Council Meeting with the same methodology: virtually.
At the Council Meeting will be discussed the future of events such as the Cancun G8 Final Grand Prix and the 2020 Wuxi Grand Slam, according to an official statement.
The first virtual meeting of the WT Executive Council was the past May, when the entity canceled the meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, and decided to leave its members at home connected through a virtual platform.
The meeting of the Executive Council must be differentiated from the General Assembly. In the first one, only the WT Council Members participate, while in the second, the presidents of national federations, members of WT committees and guests also participate.
Although for the October meeting there is no complete agenda. It is unofficially speculated that crucial issues of Olympic Taekwondo could be addressed such as the dates of the European and Asian Qualification Tournaments, pending and postponed due to the Coronavirus COVID-19.
During the announcement of the first virtual session of the WT Council Members, WT President Chungwon Choue asked the Taekwondo family to be strong and patient to face these circumstances.
“I believe that all adversity brings opportunities. I think this is a good time to reinvent the World Taekwondo. (…) We must be brave to face the future. We need to be ready for the decade to come. In the 2000s we introduced amendments to strengthen Taekwondo in the Olympic Games; In 2010, we celebrated fair play through technology and education. Now, in 2020, we need to be sustainable and improve our governance. We need to provide this good governance across all levels of our organization and sport, to ensure excellence in the next decade”, said Choue in his keynote speech at the virtual conference at the time.
The last WT face-to-face General Assembly was held in Manchester, in May 2019, just before the World Championships. At that time, it was developed into the Vermillion Hotel.
