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Final decision on Tokyo 2020 to be made in spring, senior IOC official claims

A final decision on whether the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games can go ahead will be made “in the spring” if questions over the coronavirus crisis persist, according to high-ranking International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant.

The Belgian claimed in an interview with L’Avenir newspaper that he was confident the Games would take place and played down suggestions over the event being staged behind closed doors.

Beckers-Vieujant, the head of the Belgian Olympic Committee, also echoed comments from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach that Tokyo 2020 would be cancelled if it cannot be held in 2021.

He said it would be “unthinkable to keep such a project on the go for any longer considering the enormous costs and all the thousands of people involved”.

“We are convinced that the Games will take place in 2021 or they won’t take place,” Beckers-Vieujant, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for Paris 2024, said.

“All the sporting federations have to adapt to the Games’ postponement.

“We can’t envisage a similar upheaval a second time.”

Read the full article. inside the games

Reaction to Tokyo 2020 qualification system

German karate chief understands mixed reaction to revised Tokyo 2020 qualification system
German Karate Federation (DKV) President Wolfgang Weigert has admitted he feels sorry for athletes who may be forced to re-qualify for Tokyo 2020, but claimed the revised system was fair to all competitors.

The World Karate Federation (WKF) announced its updated qualification process for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last week.
It supersedes the previous process, under which 40 karatekas secured their spot at the Games.
Weigert, a vice-president of the WKF, said “two hearts beat in my chest” regarding the impact of the revised system on German karatekas.
World champion Jonathan Horne was among the qualifiers in the men’s over-84 kilograms kumite division, but he will now have to re-secure his Olympic berth.

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Japan to “redo” Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020 in two karate divisions
Two Japanese karatekas are set to be forced to rebook their places at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics after the World Karate Federation (WKF) revised its qualification process for the Games.
According to Kyodo News, a senior official at the Japan Karate Federation (JKF) said the organisation would “redo” Olympic qualification in two kumite categories following the announcement from the WKF.
Masao Kagawa, chairman of the JKF Development Committee, said the men’s under-67 kilograms and women’s under-61kg divisions would be affected.
It means Naoto Sago, who qualified in the under-67kg class, and women’s under-61kg athlete Mayumi Someya will have to qualify again for Tokyo 2020, postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Both had been selected for the Japanese team after events which contributed to Tokyo 2020 qualifying were cancelled.
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Bach acknowledges Tokyo 2020 would be cancelled if not held in 2021

By Michael Pavitt
Thomas Bach has acknowledged that Tokyo 2020 would be cancelled should the Olympic Games not be held in 2021, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President confirmed that different scenarios are being considered over the potential impact of coronavirus on the postponed event.

Read the whole story

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

56th EKF European Senior Karate Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden 2021

Webb

Youth Camp & Youth League in Porec – Durban Series A

We have been timely informing you of the updates in the WKF Calendar, closely monitoring the worldwide situation and in close cooperation with the hosts of each event. In line with this we would like to now give you an update on the following events:

a) WKF Youth Camp & Youth League in Porec – POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
with the information that we have gathered as of today, it is necessary to postpone the event. We will continue to monitor the overall developments of the ongoing impact of COVID-19. On a later stage, the situation will be reevaluated and, if possible, the event will be rescheduled in 2021. More information will follow when available.

b) WKF Karate 1 – Series A in Durban – CANCELLED
The host of the event has informed us today of the cancellation of this event, which we hereby confirm to all of you

Please note that, as usual, these updates will also be reflected on the WKF Calendar on our website for easy access.

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