International Kurash Association held its XVIII Ordinary Congress on August 31, 2019, in the city of Chungju, the Republic of Korea.
The agenda of the meeting included a number of important points related to the activities of the Association aimed at the development of the Uzbek National Sport Kurash in the international sports arena.
Members of the Congress – heads and representatives of national Kurash federations from around the globe heard reports of IKA President, Vice-Presidents and members of the Directing Committee on their activities over the past year.
Then, the Congress elected members of the IKA’s Directing Committee for the next four-year period. Congress participants re-elected the incumbent President of the International Kurash Association, Mr. Haider Farman (Kuwait), for a new four-year term. The following members of the Directing Committee were also re-elected to the executive body of the Association: First Vice President – Mr. Jagdish Tytler (India), General Secretary – Mr. Umid Yakubov (Uzbekistan), Director on Peace through Sport – Mr. Yusuf Yildirim (Turkey), Director on Equality in sports – Mrs. Olga Machugina (Ukraine), Technical Director – Mr. Reza Nassiri (Iran). In addition to them, the IKA’s Directing Committee also consists of four continental presidents, automatically included in the IKA’s Directing Committee as Vice Presidents; Vice President on general matters Mr. Sherzodkhon Kudratkhodjaev (Uzbekistan), who was elected to the IKA’s Directing Committee in 2017 with a four-year mandate, and Vice President on international collaboration and Games Mr. Ziyoviddin Khodjiniyazov (Uzbekistan), appointed by IKA President to this position.
The Congress amended the IKA’s Statutes by removing two posts of “IKA Chairman” from the Directing Committee. The purpose of this decision is to introduce more clarity to the IKA’s management structure so it meets high international standards of good governance and the Olympic Charter.
Congress members also approved the chairpersons of the Standing Committees of the International Kurash Association for the next four years:
- Mr. Wei Jizhong (China) — Ethics and Disciplinary Committee
- Mr. Hyeong Bik Bae (Republic of Korea) — Sports Committee
- Mr. Ravi Kapoor (India) — Refereeing Committee
- Mr. Francis Yafali (D. R. Congo) — International Relations Committee
- Mr. Vittorio Giorgi (Italy) — Legal Committee
- Mr. Paul Sawyer (Great Britain) — Athletes Committee
- Mrs. Shamsi Saidova (Tajikistan) — Women in Sport Committee
- Mr. Kourosh Khosrowyar (Iran) — Statistics Committee
- Mrs. Joo-Hee Park (Republic of Korea) — Medical and anti-doping Committee
Congress participants approved applications for IKA membership submitted by four new national Kurash federations — Angola, Haiti, Namibia and Tanzania.
Congress members also reviewed technical and sports matters. In particular, a presentation was made on the new rating system, which will enable players to accumulate points on the basis of places won by them at world and continental championships, continental and regional Games, international and continental tournaments. This new system is planned to be launched on an online platform next year.
