The day prior to the World Championships 2023 was already busy. At 9 am, the verification and weigh-in for more than 1100 competitors started. In parallel, the Umpire Meeting and the Coach Meeting were distributing the final information for the most important competition in the ITF calendar. In the evening, the most important meeting of the ITF followed with the 4th Ordinary General Assembly.
The General Assembly started with the formal presentations and welcome by President GM Weiler and the Agenda was approved in which the election of the new Board of Directors stood out as the main element.
In total, this General Assembly had the presence of 57 countries with 127 votes.
It was a General Assembly with several “first times”. For instance, it was the first time to have an Electoral Committee according to the new ITF statutes. It was the first time to have a closed list for the positions of the Executive Board. And it was the first time to have an election of the Board of Directors fully operated by a digital voting assuring an anonymous vote.
The main elements of the first part of the General Assembly was the election of the scrutineers, the approval of new member associations (Andorra and Nepal), the confirmation and presentation of the countries organizing the World Championships or World Cups in the next four years were approved without mishap.
Finally, it was time to start the electoral process. GM Weiler, as a candidate for a new term and on behalf of the closed list, took the floor and carried out a retrospective from 2019, detailing the points that could not be met, the reasons and the achievements made, and finally presenting the seven objectives and goals for the new term:
- Protecting the legacy of the founder of Taekwon-Do, General Choi Hong Hi.
- Global Development with focus areas, especially with the idea of “Back to the roots”, going back to Asia, where Taekwon-Do originates.
- Promoting women’s participation in all areas of the ITF.
- Promoting teamwork as a key to success.
- Restarting existing ITF programs and ITF courses.
- Continuing to improve the organizational structure.
- Starting exchange and discussions with other organizations such as TAFISA, Peace and Sport, World Taekwondo, other ITF groups.
As a final remark, GM Weiler shared the slogan of the upcoming term: “one team, one goal”.
After the election of the closed list, each candidate for a Board of Directors position – member at large – had five minutes to give a presentation and their campaign objectives.
Electronic voting proved to be an efficient, fast, and secure system, allowing results to be obtained in a matter of minutes.
The final results of the elections for the period 2023 – 2027 are:
- President: GM Paul Weiler.
- Senior Vice President: GM Clint Norman.
- Vice President: Master Annick van Driessche.
- Treasurer: Master Leonardo Oros Duek.
Board members (in order of votes):
- Master Philip Lear
- Sbn Martina Lenhardtová
- Sbn Cosmin Oprescu
- Master Luis Gato Gato
- Master Mark Banicevich
New Grand Masters and Outstanding Personalities
Congratulations and wish you all every success during your service years.
At the moment of ITF election report we are very happy with the result. But one thing missed No one from African nations, We need to be in the part of ITF Board of directors at least 1 I suggest that ITF shall be consider for the next election.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Großmeister Paul Weller, ich wünsche Ihnen weiterhin viel Erfolg