From now on, referees participating in official events of the Pan American World Taekwondo (PATU) must undergo breath tests to determine if the person drank alcohol before the competition, in order to safeguard fair play and avoid mistakes that could interfere in the results.

Exclusively, the Technical Director of PATU, Younggi Jeon, explained that the rigorous process began during 2018 edition of the Presidents Cup of America G2, which recently took place at the Westgate of Las Vegas in the United States United in early October.

 

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“The new process consists to check the level of alcohol (through a breath test) because there are some people who drink beyond their limits the night before the competition; fatigue and loss of sleep can cause mistakes. We will control their alcohol level using machines such as breathalyzer”, said Jeon to MasTKD.com.

The PATU official revealed that it is the first time in the history of Taekwondo that a breathalyzer is used to improve the quality standards of a high performance competition.

The use of this device will guarantee that referees of official events will be totally free of alcohol at the time they are tested, because “in case any alcohol trace is shown in breath or blood, minutes before the competition, the referee will be sanctioned”, said Jeon.

 

 

Indeed, when any test results positive, PATU will proceed to penalize the referee not allowing her/he to continue refereeing during the event and will arrange his/her return to their home country.

The tests will be applied to all referees summoned to referee during a PATU official event and it will be applied minutes before the start of the competition in all upcoming events that take place, at least in America.

 

 

“The idea was born in order to take care of the athletes and the health of the referees. Please understand that we are working to make Taekwondo grow and get better and take care of all the athletes´ welfare”, said Jeon.

 

Exclusive MasTKD Team