Amman, Jordan (May 2, 2024) – The Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) Board of Trustees met today, on the occasion of the 2nd Hope and Dreams Sports Festival. The 2024 Sports Festival featured two new sports from the inaugural edition, with Badminton and Basketball joining Baseball5 and Taekwondo.
THF Chairman, Dr. Chungwon Choue, welcomed two new Board Members – HH Prince Fahad Bin Jalawi Al Saud, vice president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, who attended in person the meeting; and Mr. Pimol Srivikorn, treasurer of World Taekwondo (WT) and president of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand.
The board meeting was also the opportunity to highlight the successes of cadets and junior THF athletes living in camps in Eswatini, Rwanda and Jordan, who recently achieved significant results in various local championships. The board also heard from the THF’s involvement in the Global Refugee Forum held in December 2023.
The THF Board were reported on the first day of activities of the Hope and Dreams Sports Festival 2024, and watched a highlights video of the visit to the Azraq and Za’atari refugee camps held on the previous day. The Chairman also met with Yahya Al Ghotany, who became the first Taekwondo athlete from a refugee camp to be selected for the Olympic Games when the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) announced the Refugee Olympic Team today. The team comprises of four male and one female athlete for the Olympic Games, including Yahya. The Paralympic Games in Paris will feature Zakia Khudadadi, whose story of escaping from the Taliban to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games captured worldwide attention.
“This is great recognition of the program that we have set up here in Jordan”, said the Chairman. “Credit must be given to the Jordanian government for their generous support towards refugees and displaced persons around the world.”
The Chairman also expressed his gratitude to the Taishan Group for donating new Taekwondo mats and more than 4,000 square meters worth of artificial grass to the camps.
Following the board meeting, a delegation comprising officials from WT, THF, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) paid a visit to the Jordan Olympic Preparation Centre (OPC), where they were welcomed by Jordan Olympic Committee President and International Olympic Committee Executive Board member HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, and were given a tour of the OPC facilities, as the building and program were created after the success of Jordan’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist, Ahmad Abugaush at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The delegation met with Zaid Kareem, Saleh Al-Sharabaty, Julyana Al-Sadeq and Rama Abu Al-Rub who have all qualified to represent Jordan in Taekwondo at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and Yahya Al Ghotany.
Photo by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
Photo by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
Photo by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
Photo by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
Photo by The Korea Times - Won Suk Choi
