Following the consultations with the different WKF stakeholders and the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Karate’s decision-making body today announced the provisional suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from all WKF events until further notice.

This resolution is taken after thorough exchanges with the WKF Athletes Commission and the WKF National Federations.

Aimed at preserving the integrity of competitions and ensuring the safety of all the participants, the ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials was decided today and will be effective immediately. These exceptional measures will be under constant evaluation as the WKF will continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine.

WKF President Antonio Espinós said:

“The Karate family is united in solidarity with everyone impacted by these terrible events. While we have no desire to penalise any athlete or official who has been affected by this war, our intention is to protect the whole Karate community as we keep the Karate values of respect, integrity, and honour at heart.

“Since we do not have international events scheduled in the near future, we committed ourselves to carefully reviewing all the different perspectives and positions to make the right decision in the best interest of our sport. We took the necessary steps to have the full support of the majority of the Karate community on this delicate issue.”

On behalf of the Karate family, the WKF hopes that peace will be restored as soon as possible.

The 2022 Karate 1-Premier League is introducing a new competition system. The Round Robin format will now be applied to the elimination rounds to further raise the competitive level of the tournaments.

With the introduction of the Round Robin, competitors have now the opportunity to progress even more as athletes.

The karatekas taking part in Karate 1-Premier League events will now fight a minimum number of bouts in the first stages of the competition. As the amount of bouts in each event is increased, competitors can now improve their sports performance at Karate’s biggest international tournaments.

Moreover, greater fairness to the competition is added as karatekas will have to show their skills in several bouts before reaching the final phases of the competition.

Seguis leyendo New Karate 1 Premier League: Round Robin system to take event to new competitive heights →

The Karate 1-Youth League Acapulco beings in one week. The event inaugurates the year of international Karate.

WHAT

• The 2022 Karate 1-Youth League Acapulco is the opening event of the season and the first out of the four tournaments of the year of the 2022 Karate 1-Youth League.
• The Karate 1-Youth League is designed to become a platform for the development of youngsters in their quest to progress in the sport.

WHERE

The event will take place in the idyllic city of Acapulco, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

• The competition will be held at the Expo Mundo Imperial sports hall.

WHEN

• The tournament is scheduled for January 21 to 23.
• The event begins on Friday, January 21 at 09:00 (local time) and is set to finish on Sunday, January 23 around 20.00 (local time).
• Finals are scheduled for each of the three competition days.

Seguis leyendo Karate 1 Youth League Acapulco to open thrilling year of Karate →

After nearly two years of hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Karate 1-Series A returns to the international calendar with the anticipated event to be held in Pamplona (Spain) from January 28 to 30.

It will be the first tournament of its kind since the Karate 1-Series A Santiago in January 2020. The competition will be held at the magnificent Navarra Arena sports hall, a state-of-the-art multi-purpose venue with a capacity for 11,000 spectators and with the best conditions for a first-class Karate event.

WKF RANKING CHALLENGE

One of the main updates of the 2022 season of Karate 1-Series A refers to the inscription of competitors and the greater importance of the WKF Ranking.

The categories will be limited to a maximum of 96 competitors per division. Only competitors who are ranked from the position 33 will be allowed to participate at Karate 1-Series A events.

Athletes will be striving to earn the points that allow them to participate in Karate’s biggest event, the Karate 1-Premier League. As only 32 athletes per category compete in the Karate 1-Premier League, first-class karatekas hope to reach the positions in the ranking which may give them the right to register to participate in all the phases of the tournament.

Therefore, the challenge of the WKF Ranking begins for many athletes as they aim to reach each one of the top-ranking groups: G32 (from positions 1 to 32), G64 (33 to 64) and G100 (65 to 100).

The results of the Karate 1-Series A Pamplona will have an immediate effect on the WKF Ranking and on the inscription of upcoming events since the points will be effective for athletes to register to the Karate 1-Premier League Lisbon.