The World Taekwondo Federation has announced that five Member National Associations (MNAs) have applied to host the World Taekwondo GP between 2014 and 2016 as excitement builds ahead of the inaugural World Taekwondo GP Final in Manchester next month.

China, Mexico, Qatar, Russia and the United Kingdom have all formally declared their desire to host one or more of the six World Taekwondo GP Series and the three World Taekwondo GP Finals that will be held over the next three years. The seven cities that have been nominated by their respective MNAs are:

• Suzhou, China
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Doha, Qatar
• Kazan, Russia
• Moscow, Russia
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• Manchester, United Kingdom

President of the World Taekwondo Federation, Chungwon Choue, said:

"We are delighted with the level of interest in hosting the World Taekwondo GP over the next three years. Our five applicant MNAs are from all over the world and demonstrate taekwondo's ever-increasing popularity and global appeal.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for taekwondo. The World Taekwondo GP will bring together the very best athletes to compete in state-of-the-art arenas in truly global cities. I have no doubt that whichever cities are selected will host world-class events over the next three years and help to realize the huge commercial potential of our sport."