IKA held its XV Ordinary Congress meeting

 On 4 November 2015 the International Kurash Association held its XVth Ordinary Congress in the Khorramabad city, Iran. The Congress members coming from different countries of the world discussed several important matters related to the Kurash promotion and development in continental unions and the world.

In the beginning of the meeting the Governor of the Loristan province of Iran Mr. Hoshangh Bazvand addressed a welcoming speech to the Congress members. Then the two newly established national Kurash federations in Italy and Monaco were granted the full membership in the IKA. The Congress members also ratified the changes and amendments to the Statutes of the International Kurash Association aimed at improving the functionality and effectiveness of the Directing Committee. The Continental Union Presidents presented their reports on activities made in the year 2015 in their respective continents and plans for 2016.

The main item in the Agenda of the Congress meeting was the elections of the IKA President and Directing Committee members for new four-year terms. The Congress members elected the following persons to the positions: IKA President – Mr. Haider A. Farman (the Director of the Asian Games Department of the Olympic Council of Asia representing Kuwait); IKA First Vice-President – Mr. Jagdish Tytler (India); IKA Chairman – Mr. Murodjon Aliev (First deputy minister of culture and sport of Uzbekistan); IKA Director on peace through sport – Mr. Yusuf Yildirim (Turkey); IKA Vice-President on general matters – Mr. Razaman Pulatov (Uzbekistan); IKA Technical Director – Mr. Reza Nassiri (Iran); IKA Director on equality in sport – Mrs. Olha Machuhina (Ukraine); IKA General Secretary – Mr. Umid Yakubov (Uzbekistan).

The IKA Congress members also introduced a new position of the Honorary Vice-President-Founder of Kurash rules and appointed to this post Mr. Komil Yusupov, the author of the International Kurash Rules and the first President of the IKA (1998-2014), as a token of appreciation for his contribution to the promotion of Kurash in the world.

The IKA Congress members also approved the chairpersons of the IKA Standing Committees: Sports committee (Mr. El Jamali El Arabi, Morocco); Refereeing committee (Mr. Kim Eur Joong, Korea); Ethics and disciplinary committee (Mr. Ziyoviddin Khodjiniyazov, Uzbekistan); International relations committee (Mr. Michael Bigoszewski, Poland); Legal committee (Mr. Vittorio Giorgi, Italy); Athletes Committee (Mr. Paul Sawyer, Great Britain); Education committee (Mr. Yafali Milambo, Democratic Republic of Congo); Women in sport Committee (Mrs. Dona Saade, Lebanon); Protocol committee (Mr. Mohles Al Iraqi, Iraq); Marketing committee (Abdul Aziz Abdul Karim, India). Positions of press and PR, medical and finance committees remain vacant and will be filled in due time.

The Congress members were also briefed by the IKA President Mr. Farman about the recent inclusion of Kurash to the program of the Asian Summer Games 2018 in Indonesia, the Games which are widely accepted as the second biggest milti sport event in the world after the Summer Olympics. Kurash will also feature in the official competition programs of the Asian Beach Games 2016 in Vietnam and Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 in Turkmenistan.

The Kurash Association of India presented the progress report on the World Junior (U20) Kurash championships and the IKA’s XVI Ordinary Congress which will be held in November 2016 in the Indian resort city of Kochi.

Tomorrow the X World Kurash Senior Championships will start in Khorramabad. Players in men weight categories under 81, 90, 100 and over 100 kg will compete for the title of the World champion at the Takhti Sport Complex in the center of the Khorramabad city. On 6 November the World championships will be concluded with competitions in under 60, 66, 73 kg, and open weight categories.

 IKA press service