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Working on Olympic status for sepak takraw

To take the sport "from the villages to the Olympics", the International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) have started working towards gaining recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

ISTAF secretary general Datuk Abdul Halim Kader said getting sepak takraw into the Olympics is a long and challenging process which begins with getting ISTAF recognised as a world body by IOC.

International federations hoping to be recognised by IOC, must fulfil certain criteria which include implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, Olympic Movement Code as well as having a minimum of 50 affiliated national federations from at least three continents.

"It is not easy, but our goal is to take sepak takraw from being a village sport to become an Olympic sport one day," said Halim.

"The first step is to be recognised (as an international federation) by IOC, and we are working towards this. We hope to be recognised within the next four years.

"We aim to get sepak takraw included in the 2030 Youth Olympics — which Thailand is bidding for — followed by the full Olympics some time after that, possibly when an Asian country hosts the games.

"So far, ISTAF have reached an agreement to be featured on the Olympic Channel, which is a platform for the promotion of all sports and athletes within the Olympic movement."

Halim, had last week, stated that ISTAF are in the process of setting up a task force comprising national bodies from Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, India, Iran, Japan, China and Indonesia to work towards getting the sport into the Olympics.

Halim, who is also ASTAF president, added that sepak takraw's position in the Asian Games is secure, and he confirmed that it will be part of the next three editions: Hangzhou 2022, Nagoya 2026 and Doha 2030.

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