Paralympic inclusion has created many new opportunities for Para-taekwondo ©WTF

Incorporating taekwondo into both the Asian Para Games and the Parapan American Games is a future aim following the discipline's inclusion on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic programme, it was revealed here at today's World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) General Assembly.

Taekwondo was confirmed as one of 22 sports set to feature in Tokyo by the International Paralympic Committee in January, following a considerable upsurge in the profile of the WTF-run discipline.

It will now continue to grow further over the next five years, it is hoped 

Helping Member Associations to work with National Paralympic Committees (NPC) to raise the profile of the sport within their respective nations will be key to fulfilling this aim.

All Associations have been urged to apply for NPC membership.

A new WTF Paralympic Governing Board will be set up, with the Board's chairman becoming an ex-officio member of the WTF Council.

Members were also urged to form a Para-taekwondo Committee within their organisation, as well as to find partners and set development goals.

The example of British Taekwondo, which has already begun a scheme within all national clubs to find aspiring Para-taekwondo players, was hailed as a template as to how to do this.

Para-taekwondo has been hailed as a key priority for the WTF and its member associations ©WTF
Para-taekwondo has been hailed as a key priority for the WTF and its member associations ©WTF

A new world ranking list has been introduced in recent weeks to further raise the profile, while more classification seminars will also be held to familiarise people with the process.

Each WTF member will soon have at least one person familiar with the classification system, it is hoped, with categories currently existing for those with physical, visual and intellectual impairments.

Despite not being on the programme for continental multi-sport events as of yet, there are a variety of other major competitions coming up later this year, including the CPISRA (Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association) World Games in Nottingham and the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport (IWAS) World Games in Sochi.

Following the success of last year's event in Moscow, the World Para-Taekwondo Championships will also take place in Samsun, Turkey, in September.



Related stories:
May 2015: Latest Para-taekwondo world rankings published following use of new system
April 2015: Mongolia and Iran take two gold medals each at inaugural Asian Para-Taekwondo Championships
February 2015: World Taekwondo Federation President visits Olympic capital to discuss sport's development after Paralympic inclusion
January 2015: Taekwondo to be added to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic programme as sailing and football seven-a-side miss out