WORLD TAEKWONDO PRESIDENT VISITS JORDAN REFUGEE PROJECT

The President of World Taekwondo (WT), Dr. Chungwon Choue, has toured the Azraq Taekwondo Academy in the Azraq Camp for Syrian Refugees in northern Jordan, as part of his visit to the Hope and Dream Sports Festival.
Launched by the international federation in cooperation with the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), the Festival also marks the 50th anniversary of WT’s founding.
Dr. Choue was accompanied by Francesco Ricci Bitti, President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations; President of the International Baseball and Softball Federation, Riccardo Fraccari; JOC Secretary General, Nasser Majali; Vice President of the Jordanian Taekwondo Federation, Hazem Naimat; THF Board Member, Richard Beynor; Korean Ambassador to Jordan, Kim Dong; and the Australian Ambassador to Jordan, Bernard Lynch.
The festival is being staged to enable refugees to participate in sport, and the visit also saw an announcement that baseball would start to be incorporated into the programme.
Starting Monday, competitions will be held between refugees in baseball and taekwondo, on the sidelines of the Kingdom hosting the 9th El-Hassan International Taekwondo Championship.
Dr. Choue was delighted to see the impact that sport is making at the camp, and said: “I am happy to return to the Academy as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the federation.
“It is wonderful to see these young people practicing sports without any interference. We look forward to supporting these athletes on their journeys in competing at competitions across the world.”
Dr. Choue stressed the importance of cooperation between World Taekwondo and the THF in creating more sporting opportunities for all.
Refugee competitions will be held as part of the EL-Hassan International Championship, hosted at the Prince Hamzah Hall in Al-Hussein Youth City.
The competition will be followed by an official opening ceremony attended by a WT delegation and a number of organisations supporting refugees who will compete in Taekwondo and Baseball competitions.