World Taekwondo eases financial burden on partners

SEOUL, Korea: World Taekwondo announced at the weekend that the federation was postponing the "recognition fees" owed by partners for 2020 and waiving their 2021 fees to ease financial pressures.

The meeting, which took place at World Taekwondo’s Seoul headquarters, was arranged at the request of partner companies and saw the attendance of representatives from adidas, Daedo, JC, KPNP, Mooto, Taekwon Family, Taekwonsoft, Tusah, and Woori Sports. 

During the meeting, the attendees also discussed the taekwondo goods markets during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the development of taekwondo.

Under normal circumstances, World Taekwondo’s recognized suppliers and obliged to pay an annual fee as part of their partnership with the federation. However, recognizing the difficult financial circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Taekwondo took the decision in April to postpone the payment of the 2020 recognition fee until 2021 and not charge the 2021 fee to avoid recognized companies paying twice next year.

World Taekwondo president Chungwon Choue said: “All of us at World Taekwondo are deeply touched that our recognized companies took this opportunity to thank the organization. They are our partners and flexibility and collaboration are critical to successful partnerships. WT is, itself, facing a budget crisis as a result of the pandemic, but we determined to keep our great recognized companies on side by easing their financial burden as much as possible.”

All World Taekwondo promoted events are required to use dobok (uniform), mats and PSS from authorized suppliers that meet the World Taekwondo approved standards to ensure a consistent and high standard of competition.

Meanwhile, World Taekwondo continues work to plan for the return of events.

“It is still early to say when we, and the rest of the Olympic Movement, will exit this crisis,” Choue said. “But we are working to make sure we have the plans in place so that when we do, we bounce back with all stakeholders – including recognized companies – and deliver world-class taekwondo that we have all been missing in recent months.”