'Safety and sound matchmaking are crucial for the development of martial arts'

In 2024 the VA (Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit, the Dutch martial arts regulator) wants to work with the martial arts sector to make further progress in improving safety at events. Extra attention will go to the quality of matchmaking. "Sound matchmaking is not only important from a sporting perspective, it also contributes to the safety of the athletes and the audience," explains VA director Farid Gamei.

Important improvements to the safety policy for events have been introduced in recent years. Promoters use a safety plan and the accompanying guidance document that the VA drew up together with them and with safety experts. "This allows the sector to reduce the chance of problems arising," Gamei explains. "And should problems arise anyway, the organisation in principle knows how to deal with them. The VA urges all promoters to use the safety plan. Municipalities are also increasingly asking promoters for the safety plan, something we encourage as well. As an organiser, it shows that you think seriously about safety and take the right precautions. So you are not only covering risks, it is also an investment in the confidence that government authorities have in you as an organiser, and in the martial arts sector as a whole."

Matchmaking
Since last year, extra attention has also been paid to a risk analysis of the most up-to-date matchmaking. The aim is to prevent bouts from leading to unrest among the audience, for example because rival football supporters are present. "We will continue with this, because I conclude that it has already prevented problems on a number of occasions."

Additional checks
"We recently spoke with a group of matchmakers about the opportunities for improvement in their field. They themselves indicated that even closer attention must be paid to preventing mismatches, in which the differences in strength and experience between two opponents are too great. Particularly among young athletes we consider it very important that this is prevented, because unnecessary health risks must of course be avoided in this group above all. That is why the conditions of the Matchmaker Licence have been tightened for 2024 and why the VA will explicitly carry out advance checks more often."

"We are going to set up a small pool of volunteers who can screen the matchmaking in advance to see whether it meets the requirements. People with experience in martial arts who would like to contribute to the quality of matchmaking by helping with these sample checks as a volunteer can apply until 1 February via info@vechtsportautoriteit.nl."

"Everyone will understand that it is important for the athletes, the audience and the reputation of martial arts that we continue to develop in the area of safety as well. We therefore trust that the martial arts sector as a whole will make further progress in this area."