Unión Panamericana de Judo
Oficina del Director Deportivo
3120 Gold Avenue, El Paso, TX  79930  U.S.A
Tel: (915) 565-8754 - Fax: (915) 566-1668
 

Enviado por E-MAIL

PARA:      Presidentes y Representantes de los  Miembros de las  Federaciones de la Unión Panamericana de Judo
DE:           Director Deportivo de la Unión Panamericana de Judo
FECHA:   Mayo 19, 2006
TEMA:      XV Juegos Panamericanos – “Sistema de Clasificación en  Judo” y Eliminación de las copas de Judo como Clasificatorio para los Juegos Olímpicos 2008.

This e-mail transmits the following important information regarding the XV Pan American Games and the 2008 Summer Olympic Games:

            1.      XV Pan American Games (Rio 2007):

The “Judo Qualification System”, Tentative Text to be included in the Judo Technical Manual.

The “Judo Qualification System” was approved or reconfirmed by the Executive Committee of the Panamerican Judo Union during its meeting in the Sheraton Hotel on April 10, 2006 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  It was later approved by the Organizer of the Games for inclusion in the Judo Technical Manual.

While all the Sections of the System are important, I call your special attention to Sections 3.4.2 (The 8 (eight) remaining spots) and 3.4.3 (Criteria for selection of the 20 (twenty) invitations assigned to the PJU).

2.      2008 Summer Olympic Games – Judo Cup (Regions/Zones):

Based upon the recommendation of the Sports Commission, the Executive Committee approved the elimination of the Judo Cup (Regions/Zones) as qualifiers of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Since the International Judo Federation (IJF) and the International Olympic Committee have approved the utilization of the Judo Cup, Mr. Francois Besson, the Sports Director of the IJF, is being advised of the action of the Executive Committee of the PJU and requested to revise the Qualification System of the PJU by eliminating the use of the Judo Cup.

The Sports Commission recommendation was based upon:

a)      In the past two Summer Olympic Games cycles, inclusion of the Zone tournaments into the ranking system resulted in a variety of problems and controversies that should not be a part of a fair process of selection.

(1)  Strong Zones versus weak Zones – yet all get some points.

(2)  Medium to high technical level competitors versus those who have not obtained the level.  In some Zones, those competitors of a lower level have a chance to obtain points and maybe qualify because of an opponent who was not of a high level.  These competitors get the same points as those in a high technical Zone.

(3)  Referees in some Zones are not as highly qualified as those in other Zones.  This lack of experience may work to the advantage of the competitors in a particular Zone.

(4)  Lack of participation in some Zones.

(5)  In some Zones, some National Federations had already qualified so saw no need to further participate.  Therefore, those that did show could easily receive points.  This procedure did not result in the best athletes being selected to represent the Panamerican Judo Union.

                  b)   The changes in the Zones structure, as imposed recently by the Pan American Sport Organization (PASO), will further increase the potential for problems associated with those events.

                  c)   Principally, the selection events should be “all inclusive” for participants involved in the process.  The Zone tournaments are exclusive and thus jeopardize the transparency and fairness of the process.               

                                                                                  Regards,

                                                                                               Frank P. Fullerton
                                                                                  Director Deportivo
                                                                        Unión Panamericana de Judo

                                                      
COMISIÓN DE MEDIOS