To: International Olympic Committee (IOC)

At a meeting of the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (BAYOGOC) in September, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) attempted to exploit breaking as a Trojan horse to get its foot in the door of the Olympics—something that it has been desperately struggling to do for over two decades.

The WDSF is a competitive ballroom dance organization. It has absolutely no connection or credibility with any legitimate entity in the worldwide breaking community.  That the BAYOGOC and the IOC have allowed these impostors to oversee breaking at the Youth Olympics is a travesty and a scandal.

Would the IOC allow the Badminton World Federation to oversee baseball? Would it allow the Federation for Equestrian Sports to oversee auto-racing? Why would the Olympics accept such a polar opposite and illegitimate entity as the WDSF to have anything to do with breaking?

This action is immoral, illogical, and insulting to the hundreds of thousands of b-boys and b-girls worldwide who live and breathe this culture.

Breaking is a dance that has uplifted the lives of countless young people around the world for over 40 years. Born out of the marginalized communities of urban New York in the 1970’s, it has changed the way dance is done and is a core element of hip-hop culture. It has absolutely nothing to do with the antiquated officials at the WDSF or the competitive ballroom dance industry.

We demand that you immediately expel the WDSF from the Association of the IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) for this transgression and bar them categorically from having anything to do with breaking at the Olympic games.

Anything short of this will be interpreted as the IOC’s complicity in exploiting breaking for its own gain and handing control over its art form to the illegitimate officials at the WDSF.

For the sake of the Olympic Movement and the integrity of athletics and dance worldwide, we truly hope you will heed our call.