The virtual meetings of the WKF with national federations concluded Thursday with a final session conducted in French which gathered representatives of African countries, with the addition of Belgium.

The virtual meetings of the WKF with national federations concluded Thursday with a final session conducted in French which gathered representatives of African countries, with the addition of Belgium. WKF President Antonio Espinós thanked the over 80 delegations that have joined the discussions over three days of video conferences.

Representatives of French-speaking African countries and Belgium participated in the final session of virtual meetings. Officials of the national federations of Belgium, Djibouti, Haiti, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and Tunisia took part in the last day of conversations.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the region and the determination of the participating Karate representatives to organise activities in the next months were analysed. The different possibilities of national federations to join the Olympic Solidarity programme and the potential events to be held in Africa next year were also discussed. 

“The lesson that we can take from the current uncertain times is that we have to learn to live with the COVID-19 virus. Hopefully, the situation will improve in the coming months, but in the meantime, we must move forward and balance the effects of the pandemic with our duty to organise events,” said WKF President Antonio Espinós.

“All the African national federations participating in the meetings and those who could not join the discussions can be sure that the WKF will assist them in their efforts with the Olympic Solidarity programme. Also, we will continue working together to maximise all the opportunities to further extend the progress of our sport in the continent,” added the head of Karate’s international organisation.

“The three days of discussion have been tremendously productive. We have learned the state of Karate around the world and the conversations helped us to better understand the current situation of our sport and our National Federations. I would like to thank all the national federations for participating in the meetings and for their cooperation; I am sure that many more nations will join us in the next round of virtual meetings,” pointed out Mr Espinós.