<Noushad Ahmed from Pakistan elected as Council Member>
The ISTAF Congress Election was conducted successfully at the Grand Meroz Hall, Almeroz Hotel Bangkok, Thailand. This is the first ISTAF Congress to be conducted physically after two years following the global Covid-19 pandemic. Incumbent President General Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran emerged victorious with 32 votes from representative members against his only challenger, Miss Karen Claire T. Caballero from the Philippines Sepaktakraw Incorporation who is also the Assistant Secretary General of the Philippines National Olympic Committee. Miss Caballero obtained 4 votes from member representatives.
The Congress also saw Noushad Ahmed Khan (Pakistan) elected as the Council member of ISTAF. Noushad is the Secretary General of Pakistan Sepaktakraw Federation. ISTAF is confident that Noushad’s new role will enhance the development of Sepaktakraw not only in Pakistan but also at the international level.
In the Congress Election, President Charouck was challenged for the President’s position but his popularity amongst the ISTAF member countries remains strong resulting in the resounding victory. This is a testament of his dedication and his passion for Sepaktakraw. To date under the leadership of President Charouck, ISTAF had grown into 53-strong member countries with 35 Ordinary members and targeting to expand further to include 10 new international countries which will accumulate to a total of 35 playing countries President Charouck and his team are also working actively to bring Sepaktakraw to be a recognized Sport in the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
President Charouck and his team at ISTAF are confident to achieve this objective during the next ISTAF’s term for 2022 – 2026. On this note, ISTAF’s most significant achievement is to gain acceptance of Sepaktakraw by IOC TV channel together with five other international sports.
President Charouck attested the hard work and commitment of the Secretary General of ISTAF, Abdul Halim bin Kader, BBM as a major contributor to the growing strength and acceptance of ISTAF and Sepaktakraw globally. In his emotional opening speech, he emphasizes on the trust and the confidence he has in Abdul Halim, citing that the professional relationship between the two is firstly based on friendship and comradeship.
The President believes in the strong teamwork which he has built together with Abdul Halim within ISTAF, as he himself is a firm practitioner in this tradition of grooming the next generation of leaders to expand ISTAF further. The President also gave the full mandate to Abdul Halim to administer and execute the Office of the Secretary General in view of upholding the duties and objectives of ISTAF in a proper and efficient manner.
He thanked Abdul Halim for being his “best friend” throughout the years and he is confident together with Abdul Halim to receive the strong support from ISTAF member countries as he leads the new Council and work with the new team to another term and expand its reach with a stronger and dynamic team to make Sepaktakraw as a recognized sport across Asian region.
In his opening speech of the Congress, Abdul Halim announced that in addition to memberships in the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), the Alliance of Independent Recognized Member of Sports (AIMS) and the Global E-Sport Federation (GEF), ISTAF is also now a Member of the Association of International Sport for All (TAFISA).
The Secretary General also informed the Congress that Sepaktakraw is included by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in the Asian Games of Japan 2026, Doha 2034 in Qatar and Riyadh 2034 in Saudi Arabia. Abdul Halim conveyed the appreciation of both ISTAF and ASTAF to the President of the OCA, the Secretary General of OCA Dr. Hussain Musallam and the Director of Asian Games, Mr. Heider Farman for this outstanding acknowledgment thru the inclusion of Sepaktakraw in the most prestigious Asian multi-sport games event.
