Coaches are being offered a chance to influence the sport’s development ©WTF

The first edition of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) coach seminar has begun in Seoul as the sport aims to offer a chance to influence the sport’s development in the build-up to Tokyo 2020.

A total of 30 coaches were invited to participate in the seminar from across the world, with WTF director general Jin-bang Yang claiming it would give them the opportunity to influence decisions made by the governing body.

Coinciding with the WTF coach forum, the seminar will see discussions held over changes concerning competition rules, ranking and qualification systems, the image of the sport, and the electronic protector and scoring system (PSS).

"Those are the main areas of business," said Yang.

"Changes to rules and systems are things we can change in a short time, so we will concentrate on discussing these two.

"The other things will take more time.

"The coaches can ask questions of the WTF on the policy side - this is the first time we have given them a platform to speak for themselves.

"The WTF expects more of these opportunities, so coaches will have more chance to influence policy - especially competition rules, championship management, and ranking and qualification policy."

WTF President Chungwon Choue addressed the coach seminar in Seoul ©WTF
WTF President Chungwon Choue addressed the coach seminar in Seoul ©WTF

Following the completion of the seminar, due to take place until Thursday (October 20), the WTF Technical Committee will present the proposed changes to the governing body’s executives.

Should the Committee and the WTF executives agree on the changes, they will be put to a vote at the WTF General Assembly in Burnaby in Canada next month, which will take place alongside the World Taekwondo Junior Championships.

Changes which are approved will then be applied at WTF Championships from 2017.

"The Rio Olympics was a continuation of transparent and successful taekwondo competition, and we need to prepare for the coming Tokyo 2020," said Chungwon Choue, WTF President, at the opening of the seminar.

"In order to make a better sport, it is very important to hear opinions from you in order to make the best game."

It is hoped the potential changes will increase the spectacle of the sport, with the governing body confident they have tackled controversies over scoring and refereeing which emerged at Beijing 2008.

They believe the sport can now look at finding ways to "dazzle and excite" their 80 million members globally