Streleț outlined his plans to develop the sport throughout the nation and outlined his commitment to opening a WTF Regional Training Centre by 2018, which he hopes will help make the country a taekwondo hub in Eastern Europe.

The meeting was also attended by the Moldovan Youth and Sports Minister Loretta Handrabura and the Moldovan Taekwondo Federation President Igor Iuzefovici, who both supported the idea of the training centre, which would become the first dedicated sport academy in the country.

In addition to providing excellent training facilities for Moldovan athletes’, Iuzefovici expressed his belief that the centre would prove to be an excellent training hub for neighbouring countries, due to Moldova lying in the heart of Eastern Europe and being easily accessible.

Handrabura also announced that taekwondo would become an optional sport in elementary schools nationwide in order to inspire the next generation of players, while he also reflected Moldova’s desire to stage World Taekwondo Grand Prix series events in 2016.

Having heard the proposals, WTF President Choue pledged the governing body's support to help the plans come to fruition as the governing body seeks to help develop and promote the sport worldwide.

“I was very happy to hear of Moldova’s ambitious plans for taekwondo from the Prime Minister and Sports Minister,” Choue said.

“The WTF is ready to fully support these ambitious programmes, which have the potential to propel Moldova forward as a regional force in taekwondo and greatly increase participation throughout the region.

“We are committed to working with all our 206 National Federations to promote taekwondo, healthy lifestyles and Olympism around the world.

“Taekwondo is a global sport with global appeal and we are working hard to try and realise its full potential.”

Moldova are yet to claim an Olympic medal in taekwondo but their prospects for Rio 2016 were boosted by Aaron Cook's nationality switch from Britain, with the athlete having occupied the world number one ranking in the under 80 kilogrammes division on several occasions.

He was left out of Britain's taekwondo squad for London 2012 in favour of Lutalo Muhammad, who went on to win bronze, and was cleared to compete for Moldova in April of this year.

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