WTF World Taekwondo Federation

Article 1:

Purpose

The purpose of this Standing Procedure, hereinafter known as the “Procedure,” is to manage fairly and smoothly all matters pertaining to the taekwondo competition at the Olympic Games, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the World Taekwondo Federation, hereinafter known as “WTF Rules,” and the Competition Rules of the WTF, hereinafter known as the “WTF Competition Rules.”

Organizing Committees of the Olympic Games (“OCOGs”) should refer to the most up-to-date WTF Rules and WTF Competition Rules for more detailed explanation of the Articles stated in the Procedure.

Article 2:

Competition Area

The Competition Area for the Olympic Games shall be installed on a platform between 0.50m and 1m high from the base and the outer part of the Boundary Line shall be over 2m wide. The outer part of the platform shall be inclined at a gradient of less than 30 degrees for the safety of the contestants.

Article 3:

Weight Divisions

Weight divisions at the Olympic Games are divided as follows:

MALE DIVISION		FEMALE DIVISION
Under 58kg	Not exceeding 58kg	Under 49 kg	Not exceeding 49kg
Under 68kg	Over 58kg & not exceeding 68kg	Under 57kg	Over 49kg & not exceeding 57kg
Under 80kg	Over 68kg & not exceeding 80kg	Under 67kg	Over 57kg & not exceeding 67kg
Over 80kg	Over 80kg	Over 67kg	Over 67kg

Article 4:

Head of Team Meeting and Drawing Lots

4.1	Head of team meeting and drawing of lots shall be conducted under the joint control of the Technical Delegate of the WTF and the OCOGs within two (2) days prior to the first competition.
4.2	Drawing of lots shall be conducted after the head of team meeting. Method of drawing of lots at each edition of the Olympic Games shall be decided by the WTF.

Article 5:

Competition Method

5.1	Taekwondo competition at the Olympic Games shall be conducted in a single elimination tournament system with repechage for the bronze medal contest. The winner of the final contest will receive the gold medal and the loser will receive the silver medal. The repechage shall be conducted among all contestants who lost to the two finalists in the elimination phase. In the repechage, the losers of the semifinals during the elimination phase will be seeded directly to each of the repechage finals, but on the opposite sides of the bracket. Other losers will advance to the repechage unseeded, at the same side of the bracket in which they contested during the elimination phase. The two winners of the repechage finals will each receive a bronze medal.
5.2	In the event of a tied score, a 4th round of two minutes, also known as the sudden death round, will be conducted after a minute of rest following the 3rd round. Any points, be it Gam-jeom or Kyong-go, from the previous three rounds shall not be taken into consideration in the sudden death round. When a contestant scores the first point in the sudden death round, he or she shall be declared the winner. When a contestant receives a Gam-jeom in the sudden death round, the opponent shall be declared as the winner. In the event of a tied score after the end of the sudden death round, the winner shall be decided based on a decision of superiority by all refereeing officials for the initiatives shown in the sudden death round.

5.3	In the event of 17 athletes in a weight category, there will be a pre-qualification match to determine a winner that will proceed to the Round of 16. The athletes for the pre-qualification match will be decided by random drawing during the official drawing of lots session. The loser of the pre-qualification match will be considered as having been eliminated from the taekwondo competitions at the pertinent Olympic Games, and will not be considered for repechage under any circumstances.

Article 6:

Technical Officials

6.1	Technical Officials are divided into: Technical Delegates, International Technical Officials (ITOs) comprising of Competition Supervisory Board Members and International Referees, who shall all be appointed by the WTF; and National Technical Officials (NTOs), who are appointed by the OCOG. The number of NTOs requires the approval of the WTF.
6.2	The roles of Technical Delegates are to ensure that the WTF Competition Rules are complied with, and to preside over the Head of Team Meeting, Drawing of Lots and Weigh-In. Technical Delegates shall make final decisions in the occurrence of unexpected situations not stipulated in the contingency plan.
6.3	The roles of the Competition Supervisory Board are to deliberate on protest(s) and make final decisions, take disciplinary action against officials who make such misjudgments or who engage in any illegal behavior, and evaluate the performances of referees and judges.

Article 7:

Protest

7.1	In the event that there is an objection to a judgment, the coach or manager of the pertinent team may submit a protest application within 10 minutes after the match, along with a fee of USD 300, to the Competition Supervisory Board.
7.2	The Competition Supervisory Board shall deliver its findings within 15 minutes after acceptance of the application.

Article 8:

Test Event

The three main objectives of Test Events are to test the competition venue, in particular the Field of Play (“FOP”) and all athlete facilities, train, coordinate and evaluate staff, contractor (if in place) and volunteer performance in an event environment and develop an effective integrated team structure and evaluate the performance of the technology systems and processes supporting all functional aspects of the venues and the overall Games environment. In principle, countries that have qualified for participation in the taekwondo competition at the Olympic Games are permitted to take part in the test event. Nonetheless, the WTF may select the participating countries, as the case may be.

Article 9:

Criteria for Quota Allocation for the Olympic Games

9.1	The WTF shall conduct world and continental taekwondo qualification tournaments to determine the distribution of athlete quota allotted to the WTF.
9.2	For all editions of the Olympic Games, a country, including the host nation, may enter a maximum of two (2) male and two (2) female contestants, with one contestant per weight category.
9.3	The number of invitations (wildcards) shall be agreed upon between the parties that comprise the Tripartite Commission; the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”), the Association of National Olympic Committees (“ANOC”) and the WTF.
9.4	The weight categories that a national taekwondo association has qualified for at the world and continental taekwondo qualification tournaments are attributed to the association rather than to the contestants who participated in the tournaments.
9.5	World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament
	9.5.1	In the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, the top three ranking contestants from each weight category will qualify for the Olympic Games.
	9.5.2	In the event that any of the qualified contestants is found to have committed a doping offence that constitutes a violation of any of the provisions of the Anti-Doping Code of the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”) and the WTF Anti-Doping Rules (“Anti-Doping Codes”), the next highest ranked contestant(s) who did not qualify for the Olympic Games in the first place will qualify as the substitute contestant(s). Detailed explanation will be issued in Article 10 of the Procedure.
	9.5.3	National Associations will be issued certificates verifying the pertinent weight categories that they have qualified for at the Olympic Games. In addition, such certificates will be issued to countries that have substitute contestants (i.e. 4th and 5th ranked contestants. Detailed explanation will be issued in Article 10 of the Procedure.
9.6	Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament
	9.6.1	The WTF in cooperation with each of the five continental taekwondo unions of Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and Pan America shall conduct the Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, and the quota for each continent will be allocated by the WTF.
	9.6.2	The procedure to allot the continental quota for the Olympic Games is based on criteria such as, but not limited to, the number of member countries belonging to each continental taekwondo union, precedents, development of taekwondo in the continent, etc. The top ranked male and female contestants of each weight category from Oceania will qualify for the Olympic Games from the continental taekwondo qualification tournament in Oceania; thus, a total of four (4) men and four (4) women. The top two ranked male and female contestants of each weight category from Africa will qualify for the Olympic Games from the continental taekwondo qualification tournament in Africa; thus, a total of eight (8) men and eight (8) women. The top three ranked contestants of each weight category from Asia, Europe and Pan America will qualify for the Olympic Games from the respective continental taekwondo qualification tournaments; thus a total of 12 men and 12 women each from the continents of Asia, Europe and Pan America.
	9.6.3	One substitute contestant in each weight category will be selected in case contestants that have already qualified for the Olympic Games are disqualified for doping offences, as prescribed in Article 9.5.2 of the Procedure. Detailed explanation will be issued in Article 10 of the Procedure.
	9.6.4	If a National Association has not filled up the entire quota in the world taekwondo qualification tournament, it may participate in the pertinent continental taekwondo qualification tournament so long as: (1) the weight categories in the continental tournament are not those already qualified in the world tournament; (2) the number of qualified contestants of the pertinent National Association do not exceed the maximum quota of two (2) male and two (2) female contestants.
9.7	Final Ranking Classification System
	9.7.1	In the event where there is no playoff match between the two losers of the semi-final matches during the qualification tournaments, the following final ranking classification system shall apply: 3rd Place: Contestant who lost to the 1st Place contestant in the semi-final match 4th Place: Contestant who lost to the 2nd Place contestant in the semi-final match 5th Place: Contestant who lost to the 1st Place contestant in the quarter-final match 6th Place: Contestant who lost to the 2nd Place contestant in the quarter-final match 7th Place: Contestant who lost to the 1st Place contestant in the Round of 16 match 8th Place: Contestant who lost to the 2nd Place contestant in the Round of 16 match

Article 10:

Doping Test

10.1	All provisions in the Anti-Doping Codes developed by the IOC, the WADA and the WTF shall apply to the taekwondo competitions at the Olympic Games. Doping tests will be conducted at the world and continental taekwondo qualification tournaments.
10.2	At the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, mandatory doping tests will be conducted on the top four ranked contestants of each weight category. Any contestant proven to have violated the Anti-Doping Codes shall be removed from the final standings and be deprived of qualification for the Olympic Games. The next highest ranked contestant in the respective qualification tournaments will take over as the substitute contestant. If the substitute contestant is found to have violated the Anti-Doping Codes, the WTF Rules or the WTF Competition Rules, the next highest ranked contestant will be the new substitute contestant; and so forth.
10.3	For continental taekwondo qualification tournaments, mandatory doping tests will be conducted on: (i) All quarterfinalists of each weight category at the Asian, European and Pan American qualification tournaments. (ii) All semifinalists of each weight category at the African and Oceania qualification tournaments. Any contestant proven to have violated the Anti-Doping Codes shall be removed from the final standings and be deprived of qualification for the Olympic Games. The next highest ranked contestant in the respective qualification tournament will take over as the substitute contestant, provided that this contestant has not violated the Anti-Doping Codes or any provisions prescribed in the WTF Rules or the WTF Competition Rules.
10.4	The substitute contestants of the world taekwondo qualification tournament may participate in the same weight categories at the continental taekwondo qualification tournaments in the event that results of the doping tests have not been made known. In the event that the doping tests prove positive, he or she will take over as the substitute contestant of the world taekwondo qualification tournament. In the event that the substitute contestant has already qualified for the Olympic Games at the Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, the next highest ranked contestant in the competition standings of the continental tournament shall qualify for the Olympic Games, provided that this contestant has not violated the Anti-Doping Codes or any provisions prescribed in the WTF Rules or the WTF Competition Rules.
10.5	In the Olympic Games, if a gold medalist is disqualified after having violated the Anti-Doping Codes, the contestant shall be removed from the final standings. The silver medalist will move up the final standings and be awarded the gold medal. There will be no further changes to the final standings. If any other medalist other than the gold medalist is disqualified, there will not be any changes to the final standings.

Article 11:

Fill-up Quota Procedure

11.1	If a National Association that has qualified for the Olympic Games through the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament relinquishes a qualification slot, the WTF shall, at its own discretion, reallocate the relinquished slot on the basis of the IOC-ANOC-WTF Tripartite Commission Invitation System.
11.2	If a National Association that has qualified for the Olympic Games through a Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament relinquishes a qualification slot, the relinquished slot shall be allotted to the National Association next in line in the competition standings.
11.3	In the event of unavailability to allot the relinquished slot as prescribed in Article 11.2 of the Procedure, the WTF shall exercise its authority to allot the slot.

Article 12:

Entry Procedure

National Associations that have qualified for the Olympic Games shall take necessary measures to liaise with the pertinent NOCs so that the entry of the qualified weight category (or categories) will be submitted to the OCOGs on time.

As for Late Replace Process, if an NOC requires an athlete replacement, the WTF will deliberate on such requests in consultation with the Sport Entries Team of OCOG, after taking into account of the established schedule and inevitability of substitution.

Article 13:

Other Matters

Those matters not prescribed in the Procedure will be dealt with in accordance with the WTF Rules, WTF Competition Rules, Rules on Organization and Operation of International Taekwondo Championships, and a resolution of the WTF Council, when necessary.

Maximum per NOC: 2 men and 2 women, with a maximum of 1 athlete per weight category

An athlete must be recommended by its pertinent member national association in order to enter for the qualification tournaments.

NOCs are required to confirm the entry of their athletes by no later than 15 February 2008.

The maximum number of entries from an NF/NOC in qualification events may not exceed the number of available qualification places for the respective NF/NOC.

The first 3 placed athletes in the Olympic weight categories will qualify their NOC a place in the respective event.

48 men’s places and 48 women’s places will be allocated through Continental Taekwondo Unions. The respective Unions shall conduct continental qualification tournaments to allocate the number of qualification places specified in the table below.

The host nation shall not participate in any qualification tournament, as it shall be directly qualified in 2 weight categories for men and 2 weight categories for women.

The host nation is required to inform the WTF and all member national associations of the weight categories that it wishes to participate in, no later than one month before the start of the World Qualification Tournament.

Four (4) Tripartite Commission Invitation places will be made available for nations that have applied for weight categories other than those selected by the Host Nation.

The deadline for NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartite Invitation places is 15 November 2007. The allocation of Invitation places will be confirmed, in writing, to the NOCs by July 2008.

The WTF shall confirm to NFs/NOCs the qualification places they have achieved within two weeks after the final qualification tournament, sometime in early February 2008. By 15 February 2008, the respective NOCs must confirm to the WTF the use of qualification places achieved at the 2007 World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament and the Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournaments. By 31 March 2008, the WTF hopes to confirm the reallocation of any unused places.

IF an NOC qualified through the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament relinquishes a qualification slot, the place will be allocated to the NOC of the next highest placed athlete in the respective weight category.

If an NOC qualified through a Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament relinquishes a qualification slot, the place will be allocated to the NOC of the next highest placed athlete at this regional qualification tournament in the respective weight category.

If the host nation does not use the available qualification places, or the Tripartite Commission is not able to allocate the Invitation places, these places will be reallocated based on the results of the World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament.