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Published: 18 July 2015

President Besim Hasani has claimed the Paralympics

Kosovo Olympic Committee President Besim Hasani has claimed the Paralympics is his next goal following the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) unanimous decision to accept the Balkan Republic as a full member here today.

Following the decision of the IOC's ruling Executive Board to grant provisional recognition in October, the vote of the members-at-large was always a rubber-stamping more than a real challenge, but, even so, the fact not a single member objected was still a surprise.

This now means Kosovan athletes will be able to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games under their national flag, as well as join other organisation such as the Association of National Olympic Committees and compete at events like the Baku 2015 European Games.

Read More: Link

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Published: 18 July 2015

ETU’s main sponsor, Daedo International, has been selected as provider of the PSS system for the inaugural European Games, to take place on 16-19 June 2015. The company will provide the PSS including the electronic headgear system.

Based on the WTF Ranking list, date 17 March 2015, the 14 top ranked European athletes qualify for the Games. Their respective NOC has to confirm their participation to Baku 2015. One quota will be given to the host of the Games, Azerbaijan and one quota will be distributed via the so called wild card system.

For more information check: Baku 2015

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Published: 18 July 2015

ETU was informed by the Deutsche Taekwondo Union that it has cancelled the German Open 2015. At this time, the DTU has no plans to organize the event later in 2015. As soon as there is news, ETU will publish it on the website.

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Published: 18 July 2015

With Turkish Taekwondo Federation

The president of the Turkish Taekwondo Federation, dr. Metin Sahin visited the ETU headquarters in Athens, together with Mr. Ali Sagirkaya. Mr. Michael Fyzentzidis and dr. Sahin signed the contract for Turkey to host the 3rd ETU Club Championships in 2015. They they evaluated the 2nd ETU Club championships and G1 event Turkish open which was held in Antalya/Belek. Secretary-General Michael Fyzentzidis was very pleased with the concept of hosting multiple events in one venue. By providing hotel accommodation, sport (training) venue and food provisions in one venue was considered by Mr. Fyzentzidis as a very successful concept. The Turkish delegation also met with the president of ETU, Mr. Sakis Pragalos and discussed the development of taekwondo in Turkey and Europe as a whole.

On the picture:

Mr. Ali Sagirkaya, dr. Metin Sahin, Mr. Sakis Pragalos and Mr. Michael Fyzentzidis.

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Published: 18 July 2015

26 November 2014

BELEK - ANTALYA – The ETU Council convened for its periodical meeting in Belek, Turkey. On the agenda were some important issues to discuss and decide upon. One of the items was the case of Belgium and its membership. Also the WTF Licence system was discussed among the council members as well as amendments of the ETU Statutes.

The Council made an important decision on the UNBTU (Belgium) and decided that the ETU member will be suspended by ETU as soon as the ETU General Assembly ratifies this decision of the Council. The NOC of Belgium reported that the UNBTU currently does not represent the majority of the taekwondo practitioners in Belgium. Therefore, the Council decided to suspend the UNBTU.

Together with WTF, ETU held conversations to introduce the WTF licence within the MNAs. ETU will introduce the licence as mandatory for all athletes competing at national events in MNAs. ETU will now continue its dialogue with WTF in order to finalize the process.

The appeal of the Swedish Federation with regard to their suspension will be further investigated by the appointed Investigations Committee. The committee is to report back to the Appeal Committee who is likely to take a final decision on the matter in February of next year. Until this time, the Swedish athletes can compete at events, but under the flag of ETU. In the appeal period, the any decision taken by the General Assembly of the federation will not be accepted, unless the federation has been in full compliance with WTF and ETU statutes and regulations.

The Council approved the amendments of the ETU statutes and the introduction of the bylaw Disciplinary Resolution and Disciplinary Action. A progress report on the inaugural European Games was presented to the Council. The OC in Baku is working hard to be ready in June 2015 and with less than 200 days to go, time is very precious.

Serbia applied to host the next European Poomsae championships in Belgrade, in 2015. The Council welcomed the application and approved for Serbia to host the event. It will take place on 26-28 June 2015.

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Published: 18 July 2015

At the last of the EOC General Assembly, dr. Sun-Jae Park and Vice-president of the Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation met with the competition management team for the Baku 2015 European Games. They were briefed by the competition manager Kenneth Schunken and specialist Leyla Rzayeva about the preparations for the Games with only 202 days to go before the Opening Ceremony on 12 June 2015.

In total 40 referees have been selected and 10 national technical officials from Azerbaijan will be involved in the event, as well as app. 85 volunteers. If you want to volunteer during the Games, please register an apply via the volunteer portal at www.baku2015.com by using the code TK2015 to mark your preference for Taekwondo.

On the photo from left to right:

Kenneth Schunken
Leyla Rzayeva
Dr. Park Sun Jae
Naghi Safarov and
Mark Mateer.

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Published: 18 July 2015

Dr. Sun-Jae Park, ETU Honorary president and WTF Vice-president accompanied by ETU deputy Secretary-General, Kenneth Schunken, visited the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees. The General Assembly kicked of on 21 November and will last for 2 days. The President and First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan were at the opening ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel, located in the iconic Flame Towers. The delegates will be informed about the evaluation of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and the 2916 Rio Olympic Games. Dr. Park will also be briefed by Baku 2015 on the progress of the European Games. Several venue tours are organized for all delegates to take note from the (new) venues which are being prepared in Baku.

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Published: 18 July 2015

Knight of the Republic

Angelo Cito, Secretary-General of the Italian Taekwondo Federation, FITA, was honored today from the President of the Italian Republic, Mr. Napolitano. He was nominated: "Cavaliere dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana" or "Knight". The President, on a proposal from the Prime Minister, Mr. Renzi, and after consulting with the Council, confirmed that the Honour and the title of Knight were awarded to Angelo Cito, Secretary-General of FITA.

ETU family congratulates him for his nomination and wishes him the best!

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Published: 18 July 2015

The 'Rheinische Post' a German based newspaper wrote an article about the ETU Coach seminar in Dusseldorf which was visited by more than 150 coaches form 15 countries. In addition, ETU President Pragalos and Treasurer Buitenhuis visited a venue which could well be used for the European Qualification Tournament for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The city of Dusseldorf might turn out to be a serious candidate, outranking other possible host countries. Some of them might offer a higher hosting fee, however, Dusseldorf has to offer a wide range of pro’s, like the International Airport Dusseldorf, an amazing city of Dusseldorf and some of the best hotels of the world.

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Published: 18 July 2015

With Woosuk University

ETU President Sakis Pragalos signed a bilateral agreement with Woosuk University in Jeon Ju City, Republic of Korea. During his visit in Korea, President Pragalos had meetings with the president of the university, Mr. Kim Wing Kwon. Both organizations agreed to mutual assistance and cooperation for the research and improved education environment tailored to develop the scientific understanding and new contents of Taekwondo.