The Russian Taekwondo Union said in its host city application form that it will hold the biennial World Taekwondo Championships in the city of Chelyabinsk on Sept. 16-23, 2015.
The decision was made during a WTF Council meeting at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland on June 7, 2013. It marked the second time for the WTF to hold its Council meeting at the IOC headquarters, following its first meeting in March 2005.
"I find it very fitting that the IOC headquarters are the setting as we meet again once again to shape the future of our sport and our organization," said WTF President Chungwon Choue during the Council meeting. "For so long we have worked to meet the standards of the IOC. As that achievement came within our grasp, we move toward exceeding those standards and setting standards of our own."
The Council also made selections of the host countries of major WTF events.
Cote d'Ivoire beat Gabon and Tunisia to earn the right to host the 2013 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships in Abidjan on Nov. 28-30, 2013.
Great Britain will host the inaugural World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester in mid-December 2013. Azerbaijan will host the 1st World Cadet Taekwondo Championships in 2014 in Baku.
Mexico won the right to host the 9th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Queretaro in 2014, while Vietnam earned the right to host the 10th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Ho Chi Minh City in 2015.
The Council unanimously approved enactment proposals for the World Taekwondo Grand-Prix Standing Procedures and the WTF Para-Taekwondo Championships Bylaws.
The Council also approved amendment proposals for the World Ranking Bylaws, the Olympic Standing Procedures and the Election Bylaws.
Council members gave a provisional membership status to Kosovo, thus increasing the WTF's global membership to 205, pending the General Assembly's approval.
The Council meeting lasted about five hours, the longest ever in its 40-year history.
Shortly before the Council meeting, there were two memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremonies between the WTF and two of international para-athlete organizations – the Cereberal Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association or CPISRA and the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability or INAS. They agreed to work for the inclusion of para-taekwondo in the Paralympic Games.
