Russian taekwondo players are expected to be able to participate in World Taekwondo Federation (WT) competitions starting in April.
The WT banned Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year, and Belarusian players who helped it from participating in tournaments organized by the federation.
However, at the end of last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened up opportunities for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The IOC took the position that the rights of all athletes should be treated without discrimination according to the Olympic Charter.
The WT supported the position of the IOC. At a press conference held at the federation secretariat in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 16th, WT President Cho Jung-won said, “We plan to allow Russian and Belarusian players to participate in federation-sponsored competitions from April.” 온라인카지노
However, he expressed a negative opinion about participating in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which will be held in September. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) sent an official letter to each member country last month to invite Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Hangzhou Asian Games.
President Cho said, “OCA member countries will not want (Russia and Belarus to participate in the Asian Games). In particular, since Russia is good at taekwondo (if it participates), Asian countries could lose a lot of medals. We will reject them first.”