The International Judo Federation (IJF) 2013-2016 Judo Project was set in motion by Marius Vizer, President of the IJF, who invited the group – which included coaches, referees and sports commission members – to offer feedback following the London 2012 Olympic Games and to focus on judo's technical development over the next four years.

The agenda of the meeting included questions such as the draw procedure, the weigh-in, the refereeing video control (CARE System), the evaluation of the judo techniques, the penalties, the golden score, the hantei decisions, the different kumi-kata situations, the legs grabbing evaluation, the size of the tatami, the characteristics of judogi, the number of technical staff during the competitions and the number of athletes representing their national federations at the IJF events.

Findings will now be validated by the IJF Executive Committee.

A total of 136 countries from five continents were present at London 2012, a significant increase on the Beijing 2008 Games total of 96 countries, which was itself an Olympic record.

"Judo is a living body and the IJF is taking care of it," an official statement said.

"In constant evolution, judo is analysed to be sure that its spirit remains the same and its values continue to be promoted all over the world, because judo is not only a sport, but it is a fantastic educational tool.

"With the precious help of the best experts in the world, judo is ready to keep going forward."

London 2012 judoka Mark Anthony of Australia battled against Georgia's Varlam Liparteliani

The participants were: Vladimir Barta, world university champion and IJF head sports director; Jan Snijders, European champion and IJF refereeing director; Daniel Lascau, world champion and IJF sports director; Bernd Achilles, IJF refereeing commission; Peter Frese, President of the German Judo Federation; Peter Seisenbacher, Olympic and world champion, and coach of the Georgian team.

Alongside, Neil Adams, world champion, Olympic silver medallist, coach and judo commentator; Serge Feist, European champion, judo expert and coach; Doru Sapta, judo expert and coach; Maarten Arens, European champion and national head coach of the Dutch team; Moshe Ponti, judo expert and coach; Kiyoshi Murakami, secretary general of the All Japan Judo Federation and judo expert; Felice Mariani, European champion, Olympic and world medallist, and coach of the Italian team; Robert van de Walle, Olympic champion and judo expert - contribution in writing; Ezio Gamba, Olympic champion, world medallist and head coach of the Russian team - contribution in writing).

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