The European Karate Federation today celebrated its annual Congress in Guadalajara (Spain) on the eve of the 2023 EKF Senior Championships.

With the election of the President as one of the main points of the agenda, the plenary session of European Karate reviewed the situation of the sport in the continent and paved the way for the continuous progress of Karate in the region.

Mr Espinós was re-elected as the EKF President with 34 out of the 36 valid votes by secret voting.

After his re-election, Mr Antonio Espinós said:

“Thank you for your unwavering commitment to Karate, thank you for your support. It is my great honour to serve as the EKF President for a new term. The strong, united spirit of the European Karate Family inspires all of us to work harder and harder, to make Karate stronger, to make you stronger, and to keep supporting and empowering you.”

The Executive Committee of the European Karate Federation

An analysis of the financial state of the organisation and presentations of the different EKF Commissions, EKF Secretary General and EKF stakeholders were also on the agenda.

The organisers of the upcoming EKF events presented their progress reports, namely the next edition of the WKF Youth Camp, the 2024 EKF Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships in Tbilisi (Georgia), and the 2024 Senior EKF Championships in Zadar (Croatia). 

Additionally, the Karate event of the upcoming European Games was introduced to the plenary session. The largest multi-sport event in Europe after the Olympic Games in London, the 2023 European Games in Poland will have an anticipated Karate competition to be held in Bielsko-Biala from June 22 to 23. The 2023 EKF Senior Championships are the main qualifying event for the European Games. 

Moreover, the long-term planning of the EKF was approved by the Congress. For the Senior Championships, in addition to the 2025 event in Baku (Azerbaijan) and in 2026 in Kyiv (Ukraine), the tournaments in Paris (France) in 2027 and Serbia in 2028 were approved.

As for the EKF Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships, the tournaments in 2024 in Georgia and 2025 in Poland will be followed by competitions in Larnaca (Cyprus) in 2026, in Armenia in 2027, and in Israel in 2028.

EKF President Antonio Espinós addresses the Congress.

Furthermore, the new national federations of Georgia and Norway were confirmed as full members of the EKF.

EKF and WKF President Antonio Espinós celebrated the unity of European Karate and thanked all the members of the European Karate family for their support and cooperation.

“We have the opportunity to continue elevating Karate, but we will only achieve this goal if we work closely together.  We must remember that we are worth much more together than alone. And by working together as one united family we can build a lasting legacy for our sport,” Mr Espinós added.

(Top Picture: EKF President Antonio Espinós (centre) and the EKF Executive Committee (first row) pose with all the representatives of European National Federations attending the Congress)

Spanish Karate Federation President Antonio Moreno thanked the representatives of the National Federations for travelling to Guadalajara.

EKF General Secretary Davor Cipek.