“Salem Chigel” One of the country’s taekwondo veterans, who has records such as chairing the Ilam Taekwondo Board, coaching and international refereeing in this field, coaching the resistance taekwondo team, etc., in an interview with IRNA on Thursday, explained the current situation of Iranian taekwondo and the leading election assembly. You can read the description below:
How do you evaluate the performance of the Taekwondo Federation in the last three decades?
In the 1970s, the federation was headed by Mohammad Qomi, who, I believe, at the time, practiced taekwondo extraterritorially. We held the three international competitions of Fajr with great glory with the participation of famous taekwondo countries and at the same time the first Taekwondo League competitions were held in Tehran province with the support of the federation of the time, which became a turning point for the beginning of professional taekwondo leagues in Iran.
Seyed Mohammad Poladgar has been in charge of the Taekwondo Federation since the 1980s, and his management in two decades can be assessed as positive in the 1980s. Achieving good results at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the World Championships with the brilliance of champions and geniuses in the national team, consolidated Poladgar’s management in the federation. But in the 90s, the performance of the president of the federation was not good and had a downward trend.
What is your reason for knowing the decline of the federation management process?
I believe that the election of the provincial delegations is with the direct opinion of the president of the federation and makes it easy for him to obtain the necessary votes for the assembly of the federation in each term. Consider the results of the national team since 2011, when we became world champions under the leadership of “Reza Mehmandoust”. Isn’t this a downward trend?
The removal of critical heroes, coaches and veterans and the non-use of them in various committees of the federation began during these years. Eventually, these decisions led to unimaginable results at the Rio Olympics and eventually at Tokyo.
But the selection of the heads of the delegations is with the direct opinion of the president of the federation in all sports and it is not a strange point in Iranian sports.
Taekwondo is a popular sport in Iran and has many fans. In the seventies and eighties, it can be said that it was one of the most popular sports in the country and it was the best in evaluating the performance of federations. But the people who vote in the assembly of the federation by their election caused the downward trend to begin.
What do you consider to be the factors behind the downward trend in this field? One person cannot be blamed.
Limiting the executive responsibilities of the Taekwondo Federation to a few specific people, which leaves many qualified and specialized people out. Elimination of some champions, coaches and veterans. Lack of development of Taekwondo in the provinces; In the recent international competitions held at Esteghlal Hotel, all medals went to the representatives of Alborz, Tehran, Mazandaran and Isfahan provinces, which indicates the lack of proper development of Taekwondo throughout the country, as well as the elimination and lack of importance to basic and champion coaches. Factors.
I believe that the non-selection of Taekwondo champions in the Athletics Commission of the National Olympic Committee is due to the poor performance of the Taekwondo Federation.
What do you think about the national team process?
You see, the selection criteria for national team coaches must be announced first. In each period, we come to the conclusion that the selection of a head coach in Iranian Taekwondo is contrary to international standards. It is also important how the nationals are selected. We are now witnessing the uniform struggles of the Iranian people and their technical and tactical poverty in international competitions that must be overcome by national coaches.
How do you assess the hard-working and hard-working competition in the December election campaign?
My opinion is that the president of the federation has nothing new to say. I think their traditional and limited management does not suit your elites, heroes, coaches and veterans. The manager must be critical. The federation is now in a state of disarray, and if the previous trend continues and the elections are engineered, the result is already known. The Minister of Sports and Youth, Seyed Hamid Sajjadi, who is himself a sportsman and is accepted by all, is expected to choose a leader for the federations and to hold assemblies with full justice and without bias.
The final word?
We must support the elders, veterans and champions of this Olympic discipline more than before so that the motivation in the discipline of this discipline can be revived. Iranian Taekwondo must prepare vigorously for the World Championships, the Asian Games and the next Olympics in order to raise our country’s flag.
I work hard for the success of the Iranian delegation in various fields, including football, but Taekwondo has always been and will always be of great importance to me.
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