At 8:30 pm (Colombian time), the meeting of the Executive Council of Patu ended, in which the appointment of Dr Helder Navarro Carriazo to the presidency of the continental was unanimously confirmed.
The virtual meeting was attended, in addition to the interim president: Rick Shin (Secretary General), Georoge Hristescu (Treasurer), Mario Mandel, Juan Manuel Lopez, Marilu Deveer, Maria Borelo, Im Son Kim, Raul Pinzon, Anthony Ferguson, Ricardo Torres, Young Gui Young and Choung Pham.
During his acceptance speech, Dr. Navarro referred to the principles of transparency and good governance, inspired by the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020, which will be part of the transformations that will come in the interim period, prior to the next General Assembly. Navarro, a member of the Colombian Olympic Committee, already in his capacity as president of the WTPA, spoke of the difficult moments that humanity is suffering and that according to him «call for reflection».
«We know that the world is in a process of change and we must put the best of ourselves in all the tasks we assume and execute to face it,» he said in a meeting raised by zoom. He asked for the family of Pan American Taekwondo «the union of wills» around the common purposes in an atmosphere of sports fellowship should prevail.
«In the previous decades we accumulated experience and strengthened our values. Just as our sport evolved to achieve a place in the official program of the Olympic Games twenty years ago, the leadership grew in maturity and analytical capacity,» he reflected.
After President Ji Ho Choi resignation for personal reasons, we have the possibility to work together with specific task assignments according to our strengths. Another point that attracted attention was the idea of building an Olympic sports organization along the lines of the 2020 Agenda drawn up by the International Olympic Committee.
Navarro, a man strongly linked to the Olympic movement, explained that it is based on modern concepts of transparency and good governance rules. «I come from the associated sector and I have been part of the Olympic Committee of my native country for more than 25 years and I have had the opportunity to drink from the source of knowledge that the IOC emanates through its multiple forums and trainings. In this sense, I believe that the Unity that we can achieve at this moment with a seasoned and trained leadership element will benefit our main product and the raison d’être of our work, the athletes.
Transparency In this period of transition to an election to form a new board, Dr. Helder Navarro offered a totally transparent and democratic process.
Process Another point that called the attention of Dr. Navarro’s speech, implies that the election process will have the best intention of being clean in all its dimension.
«I will be the guarantor that they will be democratic. We have the opportunity to build the foundations of a decentralized administrative structure with an institutional governance that has a defined form of government,» he said.
«I want to give tranquility in the sense that I will guarantee the most pluralistic of the campaigns towards the directive positions of the PATU. I ask for help to my colleagues of so many years in these leaderships. Valuable leaders that I know that they will welcome in this message in the most generous and collaborative way. I count on you as the pillars of a creative and beneficial transition. It cannot be just a wait for the fulfillment of a period, it must be an opportunity to develop an action plan with all the inputs to make the management of the next four years more efficient and productive in our positioning as a continental confederation,» said the new statesman of PanAmerican Taekwondo.
Stay in office.
It seems that Navarro does not intend to remain as president for a long time. At least that’s what we understood when he said. «It will be a short period, but one that, if well used, allows us to take advantage of it and make a profitable change. Not because the above has not been good, but because as I said before, the world has changed and we have to adjust the operation of our organization to face the transformation presented. My contribution will be given in this sense, also taking into account that I do not have my own electoral aspirations which is an additional guarantee of transparency and impartiality.
Technical improvements
The head of the WTPA spoke about the technical gap between Europe and Asia. «With respect to the results of the competitors in America has been expanding and that regional leaders must put the maximum effort to try to reduce the advantage they have us, that is another priority that must be taken and although it is a task that means quite a lot of time, as well as designing a work, this transitional period, with the effort of all can generate the structuring of the strategy for that technical achievement,» he highlighted.
We celebrate plurality
After the resignation of Mr. CHOI, MundoTaekwondo has been able to rescue through these new actors in charge, an excellent communication as a specialized media. Aware of our controlling role we have seen improvements in the communication with this organization that indicates a great opening to the press, so we congratulate the new president for providing detailed information that contributes to the growth of our sport.
Carlos Hernandez
