Rome, 10 October 2023 – Unfortunately, karate will not be present at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. After the first historic appearance in Tokyo 2020 and the exclusion, however, from Paris 2024, bad news arrives for the sport born in Okinawa and managed, internationally, by World Karate Federation (WKF).
We talked about it with Davide Benetello, Vice President of FIJLKAM Karate sector, member of the WKF Executive Committee, of the WKF Olympic Commission and of the IOC Steering Committee and president of the WKF Athletes’ Commission.
“We knew that the path to Los Angeles 2028 would be very arduous. The organizing committees propose the sports that are good for their nation. Doing a general analysis, we we have all the requirements to be included in the central program of the Olympics, and not as an additional sport. This is what we expect and what we believe is our right. We, all over the world, have very important numbers and also an organizational quality at least on par with any other Olympic sport. And this even without the funds allocated to Olympic sports.”
In Tokyo we participated, as an additional sport, precisely because Japan has a great karate tradition and proposed it. There were hopes for Paris 2024, because France also has an excellent karate tradition and then with Steven Da Costa’s Olympic gold they had also grown. “Yes, the exclusion from Paris sincerely surprised us. But I don’t think it’s all karate’s fault, on the contrary. I believe there are dynamics that need to change within the evaluation of which sports to include, as central or as additional.”
The following additional sports were offered in Los Angeles: baseball and softball, lacrosse, flag football, cricket and squash. “Yes, they chose mostly team sports, with the addition of squash, which have a following in the United States. Flag Football and Squash will have their first taste of the Olympics. We were unlucky because Tokyo was a very particular event: without an audience, with restrictions, postponed for a year. It was a subdued Olympics.”
But how does the decision-making process happen? “The organizing committee of the host country proposes additional sports and then the IOC decides whether to take them or not. The additional sports chosen must respect the criteria imposed by the IOC and serve the interests of the organizing committee, which is different from the national Olympic committee.”
Does the exclusion have anything to do with the security problem? Problem that combat sports have to deal with? “Absolutely no. Safety is our first objective and an essential requirement for us. The risk and injury rate in our sport is very low. Much lower than any other combat and even non-combat sport, where more injuries certainly occur.
I repeat, we must work for inclusion in central sports. Karate deserves this!”
How do you work towards this goal? Are we aiming for 2032? “Defeats hurt but we certainly don’t give up. Karate survives with very high numbers even without the Olympics. And this cannot be said of all Olympic sports. So yes, we are working towards Brisbane 2032 and, in the meantime, we continue our natural evolution as a federation. We will further improve the organizational quality and connections with the various bodies. There will be big changes, in general, because there are sporting cycles that evolve. The world federation, for example, will change its method of qualifying for the World Championships and will increase the clarity of the rules via joysticks. In the World Commissions we continuously analyze data on possible changes and their impact.”
The bases from which to start working again towards the Olympic goal are therefore the FIJLKAM and the WKF which, as mentioned, show really high numbers of followers and participation. “We are an open federation. Both FIJLKAM and WKF do not deny entry to anyone. If anyone wants to join it just follow the correct procedures. The WKF has an organizational, qualitative level of diffusion throughout the world, a level of recognition from the national Olympic committees and inclusion in all continental Games, which makes it an international federation with solid and strong foundations. We are recognized by the Olympic Committee. We don’t want to be better than anyone, but we demonstrate with facts and participation at every level that we know how to do our job. In the WKF there are 200 national federations, including FIJLKAM, one of the most organized and present in all activities.
Even at a national level we see very strong enthusiasm. We always have to close registrations for races early because there are too many kids. The clubs are very active and want to participate in all the competitions, even though the new regulations on the national ranking do not require it. We are facing changes, yes. We want to raise the quality level, for example with the Open starting in January 2024. We are raising the bar, there’s no doubt. But where there is no growth, there is degrowth.
Furthermore, Italian companies, which do a great job with young people from the point of view of motivation and preparation, love to compete under the WKF flag, a guarantee of quality and codification, and this is demonstrated by the numbers of Italian participation in the Youth Leagues around for the world.
FIJLKAM and WKF are in excellent health, just look at the numbers of the Jesolo Youth League (scheduled from 7 to 10 December, ed.), which broke all world participation records with 4000 athletes and 77 nations. The whole world wants to come and compete here. And this is the preamble for the 2024 Venice-Jesolo Youth World Championships, which will be organized by the same team, made up of WKF, FIJLKAM and the local Multisport Veneto organizing committee.
Still on the subject of federal projects, I would like to mention the FIJLKAM Symposium scheduled for mid-March (from 7th to 10th at Bella Italia in Lignano). It will be a meeting of the national youth teams with a seminar of the National Technical Directorate, of all the National Karate Commissions and with the widest possible presence of technicians from the national team and clubs. The objective is to start a technical dialogue and an exchange of opinions to improve ourselves further and get together.”
The next fundamental stage is the World Championships in Budapest, taking place from 24 to 29 October. How does Italy get there? “The Italian federation is one of the strongest in the world. The latest results demonstrate this, starting from the Dubai 2021 World Championships where we achieved many medals, including gold with the kumite team. In Budapest we face the race with optimism, we know that the world around us is growing and aims to overtake us. We deal with the generational change and in the rotation, when you have certain champions, it is not easy. But we are prepared and motivated and we know that, when Italy arrives on the tatami, a certain preparation is expected. We won the youth and senior European Championships in terms of number of medals, we want to make the same good impression. Italy will be there.”
2023-10-10 19:44:25
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