Karate in the 2023 European Games

Karate has been added to the list of sports of the 2023 European Games. The European Olympic Committees (EOC) announced Sunday the tentative sports programme of the third edition of the European Games, which will be held in Krakow-MaÅ‚opolska (Poland). Karate, with its two modalities Kata and Kumite, was included in the competition calendar of the 2023 European Games as the sport is poised to continue causing a sensation at Europe’s biggest multi-sport event. 

Karate has been added to the list of sports of the 2023 European Games. The European Olympic Committees (EOC) announced Sunday the tentative sports programme of the third edition of the European Games, which will be held in Krakow-MaÅ‚opolska (Poland). Karate, with its two modalities Kata and Kumite, was included in the tentative competition calendar of the 2023 European Games as the sport is poised to continue causing a sensation at Europe’s biggest multi-sport event.

The 2023 European Games is tentatively scheduled for June 9 to 25, 2023 in Krakow-Małopolska (Poland), with 23 disciplines included in the list of the event.

Just as it occurred in the two previous editions of the European Games, which were held in Baku (Azerbaijan) in 2015 and in Minsk (Belarus) in 2019, Karate will be represented by its two modalities, Kata and Kumite. No less than 96 athletes from 38 countries participated at the Karate competition of the 2019 European Games with 23 nations taking home medals.

“We are pleased to be included in the sports programme of the 2023 European Games. We are fully committed to making the European Games a success, as we have done in the two previous editions of the event. We are convinced that karate can be a remarkable asset to the 2023 European Games in Krakow-MaÅ‚opolska, and we can’t wait to start working alongside the organising committee and the Polish Karate Union led by Pawel Poltorzecki to showcase all the values of our sport there. We are delighted to continue our association with the EOC, and we hope to continue bringing a great added value to the organisation in years to come,” said EKF and WKF President Antonio Espinós.

WKF

Provisional WKF calendar 2021

WKF Ranking Commission has update the WKF Ranking Rules

Following the Covid-19 outbreak and its significant impact on the sporting activites – thus also the WKF ranking, the WKF Ranking Commission has worked on the necessary updates of the WKF Ranking Rules, already approved by the WKF EC. The implementation of these rules has now been done and you can find the complete updated version here, together with the FAQ document.

Latest updates to the 2020 WKF Calendar

We would like to inform you about the latest updates to the 2020 WKF Calendar, with the necessary cancellation of events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

June-July 2020 / WKF Youth Camp & Youth League in Porec, Croatia: CANCELLED
Despite the proposal to postpone the event for a later date, the activities foreseen in Porec have now been cancelled for this year 2020 as the current circumstances still do not make the organization of this event possible.

September 2020 / Karate 1 – Youth League in Monterrey, Mexico: CANCELLED
November 2020 / FISU World University Karate Championships in Brasilia, Brazil: CANCELLED by the International University Sports Federation (FISU)

WKF

Postpone the next edition of the World Championships to 2021.

The Executive Committee of the World Karate Federation met Monday via videoconference to streamline the roadmap of the organisation amid the current challenging circumstances caused by the global pandemic of coronavirus.

The Executive Committee of the World Karate Federation met Monday via videoconference to streamline the roadmap of the organisation amid the current challenging circumstances caused by the global pandemic of coronavirus.

Far-reaching decisions were taken in the meeting which was chaired by WKF President Antonio Espinós. The Executive Committee decided to postpone the next edition of the World Championships to 2021. Karate’s biggest event, which had been scheduled to be held later this year in Dubai (UAE) will take place in the same venue in November 2021 due to the uncertain situation produced by the COVID-19 epidemic. WKF’s governing body agreed to reschedule the tournament in order to guarantee the well-being and safety of athletes, staff members and fans. Consequently, the WKF Congress which was planned to be held in Dubai in November will also be postponed to 2021.

Revised Qualification System (QS) of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

CLICK HERE to go to the updated Olympic Qualification System.

CLICK HERE to go to the revised Qualification System document.

RELATED: WKF Athletes Commission backs revision of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualification System

IOC RELEASES REVISED OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020 QUALIFICATION PRINCIPLES

AS PART OF THE WORK OF THE “HERE WE GO” TASK FORCE CURRENTLY ADDRESSING THE LIST OF QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020, THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) QUALIFICATION TASK FORCE HAS APPROVED A SERIES OF AMENDMENTS TO THE TOKYO 2020 QUALIFICATION SYSTEM PRINCIPLES.

The revision has been made to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent finalisation of the new dates of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, replacing the previous version approved by the IOC Executive Board in July 2017.

The Qualification Principles are the reference for all the qualification systems, which are the regulations established by International Federations (IFs) that vary between each sport (and sports discipline, where applicable).

The qualification systems consist of rules, procedures and criteria for participation in the competitions of the Olympic Games, in line with the Olympic Charter, and are approved by the IOC Executive Board.

Read SOURCE IOC

Tokyo 2020

WKF announces first qualified athletes for Tokyo 2020

The World Karate Federation has announced the first Karate athletes who have earned the qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.  

Due to the cancellation of the last qualifying tournaments because of the coronavirus outbreak, the first stage of the Olympic qualification pathway has been finalised. The four highest-ranked athletes per gender and Olympic event claim the 32 places allocated by standings. Additionally, the WKF has also confirmed the Japanese athletes who take the host nation quota in each one of the Olympic categories.

The qualified athletes in alphabetical order are:

Male Categories Qualified Athletes	Female Categories Qualified Athletes
Male Kata Mattia Busato (ITA) Antonio Diaz (VEN) Ryo Kiyuna (JPN) Damian Quintero (ESP) Ali Sofuoglu (TUR)	Female Kata Viviana Bottaro (ITA) Sakura Kokumai (USA) Mo Sheung Grace Lau (HKG) Sandra Sanchez (ESP) Kiyou Shimizu (JPN)
Male Kumite -67kg Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ) Angelo Crescenzo (ITA) Steven Dacosta (FRA) Vinicius Figueira (BRA) Naoto Sago (JPN)	Female Kumite -55kg Sara Bahmanyar (IRI) Miho Miyahara (JPN) Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR) Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR) Tzu-Yun Wen (TPE)
Male Kumite -75kg Rafael Aghayev (AZE) Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh (IRI) Luigi Busa (ITA) Stanislav Horuna (UKR) Ken Nishimura (JPN)	Male Kumite -61kg Merve Coban (TUR) Giana Lotfy (EGY) Jovana Prekovic (SRB) Mayumi Someya (JPN) Xiaoyan Yin (CHN)
Male Kumite +75kg Ugur Aktas (TUR) Ryutaro Araga (JPN) Sajad Ganjzadeh (IRI) Jonathan Horne (GER) Ivan Kvesic (CRO)	Female Kumite +61kg Hamideh Abbasali (IRI) Meltem Hocaouglu (TUR) Elena Quirici (SUI) Ayumi Uekusa (JPN) Irina Zaretska (AZE)

The Olympic qualification process continues now to allocate the rest of the places to complete the final list of 80 karatekas to participate in Tokyo 2020. No less than 24 athletes will earn the Olympic ticket at the qualification tournament to be held in Paris (France). Additionally, 12 athletes will get the berth for the Olympic Games by continental representation and up to four karatekas will take the Olympic ticket by the Tripartite Commission invitation places.

Information about the major updates and the challenges related to the qualifying events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

WKF would like to inform you about the major updates in light of the ongoing developments around coronavirus and the challenges related to the last qualifying events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

A. Madrid Premier League (PL) will be the substitution event of the cancelled PL in Rabat (for the Olympic Standing) Cancell

B. European Senior Championships in Baku Cancell

C. Qualification Tournament (QT) in Paris Postponed new date coming.

After the recent news received by IOC about the postponement of the Olympic Games until latest summer 2021 (already shared with all of you), we hereby inform you that the WKF postpones the Qualification Tournament now scheduled for June 2020 and we will work on the most appropriate dates for the Qualification Tournament as soon as the precise new dates of the Olympic Games are confirmed. The WKF Olympic Planning Commission is in permanent contact and will have next Monday a first telematic meeting to deal on this and other issues to report to the WKF Executive Committee.

Trusting in your cooperation in these challenging times, the WKF remains committed to the health and well-being of its athletes and overall Karate family, whilst working restlessly towards a successful participation of our sport in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

WKF