Vatican Taekwondo

Vatican Taekwondo

Sport	Taekwondo
Jurisdiction	Vatican City
Affiliation	World Taekwondo
Affiliation date	2021
Regional affiliation	European Taekwondo Union
Affiliation date	2021
Headquarters	Dicastery for Culture and Education
President	Giampaolo Mattei
Secretary	Marco Alpigiani

Vatican Taekwondo is the official governing body for the sport of taekwondo in the Vatican City. The body is a part of Vatican Athletics, and is the second Vatican sports governing body to gain membership of a world governing body after becoming a member of World Taekwondo on November 2021; it is also a member of the European Taekwondo Union. The president of the organisation is Giampaolo Mattei.

History

Prior to recognition

Pope Francis and World Taekwondo president Choue Chung-won, among others, with the World Taekwondo Demonstration Team

Before the creation of Vatican Taekwondo, the Vatican and World Taekwondo held a close relationship with each other. ^[1] The latter's demonstration team first visited the nation in 2016 during the first Global Conference on Faith & Sport for an exhibition poomsae performance. ^[2] The team made a subsequent appearance in 2018 with five South Korean and North Korean taekwondo practitioners for a "demonstration for peace". ^[3]

In 2018, then-World Taekwondo president Chungwon Choue, accompanied by president of the Italian Taekwondo Federation (FITA) Angelo Cito, met with Pope Francis in 2017. There, Choue had gifted an honorary 10th dan black belt to the Pope. ^{[4] [5]} Pope Francis also stated his interest in humanitarian activities through the sport, citing the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation which teaches taekwondo to refugees. In the Vatican, taekwondo courses were held for twenty students at the Saint Pius X Institute through a partnership with FITA in 2020. ^[6]

Creation and recognition

Vatican Taekwondo was established in 2021 as part of Vatican Athletics. ^{[7] [8]} The body was voted the 211th member of World Taekwondo on 23 November 2021 at the World Taekwondo General Assembly, becoming the second sports organisation in the nation recognized by a world governing body, after Vatican Cycling. ^[8] It is also a member of the European Taekwondo Union. ^[7]

Management and status

As of July 2025, Vatican Taekwondo has no registered athletes or officials according to World Taekwondo's official website. ^[7] Giampaolo Mattei has been the president of Vatican Taekwondo since it began, ^[6] and the secretary is Marco Alpigiani. ^[7]

See also

• Vatican Athletics
• Sport in Vatican City

References

1. Lee, Hae-rin (21 April 2025). "Late pope noted for ties with taekwondo". The Korea Times . Archived from the original on 26 April 2025. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
2. Kim, Jae-kyoung (11 July 2018). "Spreading peace through taekwondo". The Korea Times . Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
3. "Korean Taekwondo athletes perform for unity at the Vatican". TRT World . 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
4. "Taekwondo pays tribute to Pope Francis". insidethegames.biz. 2025-04-22. Archived from the original on 2025-04-23. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
5. "[World Taekwondo] Pope Granted Honorary Taekwondo Black Belt at Meeting in Vatican". World Taekwondo . 11 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
6. "World Taekwondo officially recognises Vatican Taekwondo as 211th member". World Taekwondo . 23 November 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
7. "World Taekwondo – Vatican Taekwondo". World Taekwondo . Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
8. Dowdeswell, Andrew (23 November 2021). "Vatican Taekwondo becomes World Taekwondo member and city state's second NGB with international recognition". Inside the Games . Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2025.