The performance of two Ghanaian referees has been acknowledged by the World Tae Kwon Do Fedearation (WTF) with the presentation of international referee badges.
They are Frederick Lartey Otu of the Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), Tema and Corporal Joseph Kwasi Brako of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The Ghanaians were selected after excelling in examinations in which over 45 other referees from 12 African countries participated during the International Tae Kwon Do Federation seminar held in South Africa from September 11 to 13 1999.
With this, they become the only recognised Tae Kwon DO referees in the country. Their certificate was endorsed by Un Yong Kim of Korea, who is the president of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.
According to Federick Lartey Otu, the exams which was in two segments had 60 per cent of theory and 40 per cent practical was designed to give the participants a deeper insight into the current development of the game.
He said, in all international competitions, even coaches are expected to know the WTF rules and therefore intends to organise workshops for coaches and local referees. As members of the national technical committee, they would also contribute to the executive committee of the association.
Like many other lesser known sports, funding has been the bane of Tae Kwon Do in the country to the extent that Ghana, which hosted last year’s West African competition could not participate in the said competition due to inadequate funds.