“Positive balance” at Portugal’s farewell to the Kickboxing World Championship – Combat sports
One silver medal, two bronze medals and two incorporated for the 2022 World Games. Here is the summary of the Portuguese participation in the Kickboxing World Championship, which took place in Italy this week. in conversation with Record, the technical team that led the Portuguese delegation does not hide their satisfaction with the results achieved.
“For me, a person who hasn’t been here for a long time, the balance has to be extremely positive. Without touch, we have a very young team and all the elements shone, competing against much more well-rounded opponents. We had fantastic results, which just didn’t. they were even better because they were robbed, but in practice Ricardo Hilário won a final. We found better results than many. We are sorry that more clubs do not appear because of the problems the Federation faces, but that is not our concern because were eliminated by WAKO, “said Raúl Lemos, responsible for the ring side. Although, on the tatami, all the athletes lost in the first fight, Pedro Telles, responsible for this aspect, assumed that he managed to draw positive conclusions from the competition. “It was a performance in line with what has happened in recent years. Despite that, I managed to get some very positive indications. They gained experience and at ease in this type of competition. We had to get the athletes in about two months, that was when WAKO invited us to this competition”, he stressed, emphasizing the difficulties felt in the preparation of the race: “In a normal situation, we would do my dozen internships, an aspect that would allow us to assess the evolution of the athletes. a lot to see if they would be technically well because they are the ones who have to pay the travel. We just said “You know what you are going for and that the level is very high”. Our work was very conditioned by all the limitations it had. In addition, he got a silver medal, two bronze and two athletes qualified for the World Games.”
Explained expulsion and expectation for the future
The Portuguese Kickboxing and Muaythai Federation was banned by WAKO, the International Kickboxing Federation, an aspect that forced the Portuguese delegation to travel to Italy and participate in the competition in an ‘unofficial’ way. João Diogo, team leader, explained the situation to our newspaper.
“Several coaches complained to WAKO about the way the Federation worked and WAKO investigated to investigate. The Federation statutes had several illegal things and, in view of this, a WAKO started by suspending the Federation and later ended up expelling. The Federation rules do not was in agreement with those of the Olympic Committee, where WAKO is inserted and which it has to obey, and the expulsion happened. However, WAKO never wanted Portugal to be left out of this Championship, it got in touch with me, it told me in who was thinking about forming the technical team and the situation progressed. We knew that we were going to have an inglorious job and that many people would not come with us for fear of reprisals. However, I warned that I will always be available to work in favor of Portuguese kickboxing ” , stressed.
In addition, the manager also envisaged what the future of the sport could be: “When all the resources that the Federation can present are finished, the Portuguese state has to say what is going to be done. If the Federation does not have the recognition from WAKO, Kickboxing can be withdrawn and a new federation can be created, which will have the statutes according to what WAKO obliges, with other people. In my opinion, it is the path that makes sense, I hope that happens. it makes sense for us to be here with such reduced support, we need more constant support”.