World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament to be Held in Manchester, U.K., Sept. 28-30

The 2007 WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is scheduled for Sept. 28-30 this year in Manchester, United Kingdom.

About 350 players from more than 100 countries are expected to participate in the World Qualification Tournament, which will be held at the M.E.N. (Manchester Evening News) Arena.

The three-day tournament will be officiated by 54 international referees selected among the 184 participants in the WTF International Referee Training Camp for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at Woosuk University in Jeonju, Korea, in July 2007. Through the world and continental qualification tournaments, the best 29 referees will be finalized for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A total of 128 athletes are scheduled to compete in the taekwondo competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Through the Manchester World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, the top three athletes from each of the eight Olympic weight categories will qualify their National Olympic Committees a place in the respective event.

Through the WTF’s five Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournaments, a total of 96 places, comprising of 48 men’s and 48 women’s places, will be allocated. Asia, Europe and Pan America will be allocated 24 places each in the same competition format. Africa and Oceania will have 16 and 8 places, respectively.

The African Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is scheduled for Nov. 1-3 this year in Tripoli, Libya. The Asian Qualification Tournament is slated for Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; the Oceania Qualification Tournament on Dec. 1 in New Caledonia; the Pan-American Qualification Tournament on Dec. 7-9 in Cali, Colombia; and the European Qualification Tournament on Jan. 26-27, 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey.

China will field two male and two female athletes in the Olympic taekwondo competition without participating in any qualification tournaments, as it is automatically qualified as the host nation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

After consultations among the IOC, the Association of National Olympic Committees and the WTF under the Tripartite Agreement, four invitational places, also known as wild cards, will be distributed to certain nations.