InterviewFISU president to elevate cooperation with taekwondo for humanitarian efforts

International University Sports Federation President Leonz Eder poses in front of 3-on-3 basketball players during his visit to The Sports City complex in Amman, on the last day of the third Hope and Dreams Sports Festival, May 3. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

AMMAN, Jordan — The 10th anniversary of Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) next year will be an opportunity to take cooperation between international governing bodies of university sports and taekwondo to a higher level for humanitarian efforts, according to International University Sports Federation (FISU) President Leonz Eder.

He said discussions have been underway with World Taekwondo (WT) President Choue Chung-won, who also serves as THF chairman, to introduce online learning for young Syrian refugees and help broaden their learning opportunities.

“The 10th anniversary of THF seems to me to be a very appropriate and welcome opportunity to actually turn ideas into action,” the FISU president said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times during the third Hope and Dreams Sports Festival.

Eder was a first-time guest to the festival, which was held from April 30 to May 3 as a humanitarian initiative co-organized by WT and THF since 2023.

The 2025 gathering was the largest to date, featuring a record-breaking six sports and more than 1,000 athletes in Jordan’s Azraq and Za’atari refugee camps and in central Amman.

The achievement was in line with Choue’s founding vision of THF in 2016 — using taekwondo as a tool to widen learning opportunities for Syrian refugee students in collaboration with other Olympic sports.

Eder assessed that WT and FISU “have been working together successfully for a very long time at sporting level” but not so much on humanitarian level.

“My presence in Amman has shown me that this cooperation can be expanded and strengthened in an area in which FISU has so far only been partially active,” he said. “With this in mind, I hope that FISU will contribute to the success of next year's Hope and Dreams Sports Festival.”

The FISU president noted he and Choue discussed “a few spontaneous ideas for collaboration, including online lessons and training content in the broadest sense” to materialize their shared goal.

He said he will also discuss ideas with FISU Secretary General and CEO Matthias Remund, as well as the federation’s Education and Development Team, in order to “point out possibilities that are realistic and can be realized without great administrative effort.”

Asked about his firsthand experience of THF’s initiative, the FISU president explained that he was particularly impressed by two things — the humanitarian considerations behind the Hope and Dreams Sports Festival and the joy and enthusiasm that this sporting opportunity generates among the young children from the refugee camps.

“Experiencing this with your own feelings on site is extremely impressive and has a lasting effect,” he said, speaking of the refugee students who have restricted opportunities in education, career and hobbies compared to their peers in other parts of the world.

“Seeing with your own eyes how the children's eyes light up, the joy with which they take part in the sports activities and act as a unit goes deep into your heart and puts into perspective so much of what we experience and achieve ourselves in everyday life,” Eder said.