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Muay Thai
will be included in the inaugural Asian Indoor Games and the 23rd SEA Games in
the Philippines.
Confirming the news, Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) governor Santiparb
Tejavanija said the executive committee of the World Muay Thai Council
consisting of delegates from 60 countries met yesterday and decided to take the
Thai fighting art onto the world stage.
Santiparb said the World Muay Thai Council (WMC), with full backing from the
Thai government, will promote the sport.
“The main purpose of the council is to popularise Muay Thai worldwide and I
can say the Thai government will support it in every way,” he said.
The first Asian Indoor Games will be held in
Bangkok
in November.
International Olympic Committee member Nat Indrapana has tried to push Muay
Thai into the Olympics through the Olympics Movement programme but has not
succeeded so far.
Meanwhile, the General Association of International Sports Federations
(GAISF) will include the International Federation of Muay Thai Amateur (IFMA) as
a member at its 2006 meeting in
South Korea.
At the GAISF meeting last year in
Berlin, the IFMA did not get approval as the GAISF felt the Muay Thai body
did not meet its standards.
The IFMA was officially established in 1990 and has 110 member countries,
while the WMC was set up in 1995 under the directive of the Thai government and
sanctioned by SAT.
The primary aim of both organisations is to unite the world federations, gyms
and promoters under one umbrella in order to promote Muay Thai as a safe ring
sport and a martial art with a long and proud tradition.
In a related development, Dr Sakchye Tapsuwan, general-secretary of WMC and
the president of IFMA, said the “Muay Thai Against Drugs” campaign will be held
at the Thepprasit Ring in
Pattaya
on August 27, in conjunction with WMC and IFMA.
The WMC executive committee meeting started yesterday and continues
at The
Grand Hotel until tomorrow from 10am to 4.30pm.
Montreechai Lumyongsatian
The Nation
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