WFA Pledges Active Support to Wushu's Olympic Bid

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 10, 2002

WFA Pledges Active Support to Wushu's Olympic Bid

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The Wushu Federation of Asia (WFA) has decided to give active support to the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) in its bid to push Wushu, the Chinese martial arts also known as Kung Fu, into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, aWFA press release said Thursday in Busan.

"The WFA shall actively assist the IWUF in bidding for inclusion in the 2008 Olympic Games," said the press release basedon a decision made by the WFA Executive Committee here on the eve of the 14th Asian Games Wushu competition, which started on Thursday morning.

"Wushu's bidding for the Olympic Games is entering into its final and critical period," said the release.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to make a final decision on the fate of Wushu and several other sports seeking Olympic entry at a plenary meeting in Mexico City in late November.

Those WFA member associations which have the IOC members in their own country or region shall lobby them for their support to Wushu's inclusion in the 2008 Olympic Games, said the WFA.

Meanwhile, "each member association of WFA shall fully carry out doping control measures with the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), including to advise the athletes of their requirements to undergo drug inspection as required by WADA," it added.

Each member association of WFA was also requested to provide bythe end of this month the namelist and contact details of their registered athletes to the WFA Secretariat Office in Tokyo, Japan for reporting to the IOC via the IWUF.

With 77 member associations that represent tens of millions of Wushu practitioners worldwide, the IWUF started its campaign in late 1998 to make Wushu an Olympic event. Countries with large Wushu loving populations like China and Japan have earnestly hopedthis could be achieved at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Earlier this month, the Olympic Council of Asia, Asia's supreme sports governing body, also called on all its members to support Wushu's Olympic bid. Wushu has been listed as a medal event at four consecutive Asian Games since 1990.

The WFA on Wednesday also elected its new executive committee for a term from 2002 to 2006, the press release added.

Li Zhijian from China was re-elected President of the WFA Executive Committee as Ian C.W.Fok of Chinese Hong Kong, Francis Chan Tek Lok of the Philippines and Hoang Vinh Giang of Vietnam were elected vice presidents. Kyuhei Muraoka of Japan was elected secretary general of the executive committee.

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