Dear friends, colleagues, competitors and fans arm wrestling.

 

First of all, let me congratulate you on the assignment of the status of "International Federation recognized by the International Paralympic Committee» to our World Federation. We are one step closer to our Olympic dream.

 

Translation of the official letter of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

 

Now we have the opportunity to use the Paralympic symbols in association with armwrestling and the term "para-armwrestling" and, despite the relative symbolism of this status, we can say that the world armwrestling has been noticed by the authoritative sports organizations, which entails, in addition to recognition, even more serious responsibility for the opportunity to meet such a credit.

 

It is very important to understand why the IPC decided to grant this status to WAF. It is clear to everyone that this is definitely not the result of one or two people’s work.

This is a recognition of results of the efforts of athletes-armwrestlers, coaches, heads of national federations, as well as the team of the International Armwrestling Federation for Disabled (IAFD), to which WAF Congress has entrusted development and standardization of work with athletes with disabilities according to the principles of the IPC. Thanks to the First World Championship for the Disabled held in 2014, where was at the first time applied the Classification system in armwrestling, developed by the IAFD Working group under the leadership of Guzel Idrisova, thanks to the organization of Para-armwrestling presentations, IPC seminars and congresses participation, disabled armrestlers were noticed by the functionaries of the IPC. Without this breakthrough, we would continue to stagnate, as it has been in recent years.

 

Armwrestling came out of adolescence, when we were happy to get slightest recognition by the international organizations. Today, we know what we can do and what shortcomings in our structures interfere reveal of our Olympic potential in full. For example, there is not a symbolic but a real opportunity to join the Paralympic movement -  the possibility of the participation of our disabled athletes at the IWAS World Games (IWAS – International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport Federation), which will be held on 26.09.2015-03.10.2015 at about the same time as the World Championship in Malaysia. Thanks to the efforts of the IAFD team, we have been invited to these Games already. In this regard, the senior WAF management had been approached with a request to transfer the World Championship for the disabled at a later date. In respond - the strange silence, which puts the athletes, coaches, managers of national federations in the uncertain situation and does not add any optimism.

 

It was therefore decided to publish an open letter of appeal to the acting WAF President Assen Hadzhitodorov to decide, would WAF management be against the participation of disabled athletes in the Paralympic IWAS  World Games 2015 or not.

 

Moving forward is possible only if all look in one direction, rather than try to compete in the privatization of the whole team’s achievements. Against the background of the opportunities opened up before us in 2015, our internal conflicts in recent years related to failures in the organization of the last World Championships, uncertain organizational status of the World Championship in Malaysia, misunderstandings with doping tests eloquently tell us that without changes in our structure, we will not obtain permission for the use of preferences granted by our new status in the International Paralympic Committee.

 

Time goes by. European Championship is approaching. The situation is urgent and the heads of national federations must give their assessment and make decisions that will eliminate the obstacles to the further development of the world’s armwrestling.

 

Organizational committee IAFD