The fifth round of meetings with National Federations today concluded with the last sessions of discussions of WKF officials and representatives of National Federations.

Karate’s future projects centred the conversation on day 3 of meetings.   

The World Karate Federation is celebrating a series of meetings via videoconference with delegates from National Federations around the world to analyse the current situation of the sport worldwide. The last day of gatherings had European and French-speaking African countries taking the stage.

WKF President Antonio Espinós said:

“We can be very satisfied with the way the year 2021 has developed. Except for the Karate 1-Premier League Rabat, we have managed to celebrate all our events this year, and this is a significant accomplishment considering the current circumstances.

“In addition to the positive organisation of our events, we have to be very proud of Karate’s success at the Olympic Games. All the world could witness the greatness and many values of our sport.”

In order to maximise opportunities as a result of the successful presentation of the sport at the Olympic Games, a new Strategic Plan has been introduced at the meetings. The project aims at streamlining Karate’s major events to further improve the competitive level and media impact of the top competitions of the sport such as the Karate 1 events and the World Championships.

The last day of meetings was divided into two sessions. The first conference gathered representatives of European countries.

Delegates of no less than 26 European National Federations participated at the meeting, including Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, and Sweden.

The gathering was also attended by WKF General Secretary Toshihisa Nagura, WKF General Treasurer Michael Dinsdale, WKF Executive Committee member Souleymane Gaye, WKF Para-Karate Chairperson Dusana Augustoviçova, and WKF Referee Commission Secretary Robert Hamara.

The second session gathered French-speaking African countries, with delegates from Burundi, Djibouti, Mali and Senegal joining, and with WKF Vice President Bechir Cherif and WKF Executive Committee member Souleymane Gaye also participating.

“I want to thank all the National Federations that have participated in the meetings this week. Their support is crucial for the progress of our sport. We are confident that we are heading in the right direction as we are now moving towards a memorable World Championships in Dubai in November,” added WKF President.