In the few days before the European Taekwon-Do Championships 2024, the ITF Board of Directors met in Lublin, Poland. From Monday to Wednesday, April 15-17, the ITF board discussed a huge variaty of topics in the Grand Hotel in Lublin for a total of more than 20 hours.
After the elections last September at the World Championships in Tampere, Finland, it was the first in-person meeting of the full board. In the meantime, for governing various aspects of the international sports federation, the ITF Board meetings were carried out as virtual online meetings. As a preparation for this meeting, the ITF Executive Board met a few weeks earlier for another multi-day in-person meeting. The Executive Board consists of the President (GM Paul Weiler), Senior Vice President (GM Clint Norman), Vice President (Master Annick van Driessche), and the Treasurer (Master Leo Oros Duek). The full ITF Board of Directors includes up to five additional members to the Executive Board – the so called “members-at-large”. Currently, these members are Master Philip Lear, Master Luis Gato Gato, Sbn Cosmin Oprescu, and Sbn Martina Lenhardtová.
The difficulties of in-person meetings culminated in this board meeting. Master Leo Oros Duek and the General Counsel of the ITF, Efraim Barak, both travelling from Israel to Poland on Sunday April 14, 2024, had to swiftly re-adjust their travel plans after the attacks of Iran in the previous night and a cancallation of all commerical flight in the subsequent days. Luckily, both could travel safely to Lublin at a later time and participated in the last day of the in-person meeting.
The results of this multi-day meeting are impressive: the board approved several policies and financial reports and discussed strategical decisions. However, the most appealing decision is the approval of the Rules of Competition for disabled competitors. Details on numerous topics will follow in the upcoming days and weeks. Stay tuned.
Report of the 44th QIUC – Buenos Aires, Argentina
