The organisers of the European Karate Championships for Cadets, Juniors and Under 21s, held in Limassol, Cyprus, prevented the Kosovo national team from entering the host country and participating in the event. Efforts by the Kosovo Karate Federation to resolve the issue through the European Karate Federation, chaired by Antonio Espinos, proved unsuccessful.
This comes despite the fact that the World Karate Federation, as a body recognised within the Olympic Movement, carries a clear responsibility to ensure that karate athletes are able to compete free from discrimination and without political interference. Under Olympic principles, athletes must be protected from exclusion based on political considerations beyond sport.
The situation is particularly significant because host countries have no right to impose humiliating or restrictive conditions that fall outside the regulations of international federations. Although the World Karate Federation had been formally informed by the Kosovo Karate Federation, it failed to take effective action and did not defend the violated rights of Kosovo athletes.
In response, the Sports Above Politics Movement, a non-profit organisation advocating for athletes’ rights, issued a strongly worded statement accusing the European Karate Federation of negligence and of turning a blind eye to the most basic human rights of athletes. The organisation held the federation directly responsible for the exclusion.
Kosovo junior karate athletes
The statement described as unacceptable the refusal to allow Kosovo athletes to compete under their national symbols, even though the European Karate Federation reportedly proposed participation without national symbols as an alternative. According to the organisation, such a proposal itself constitutes discrimination.
The statement also criticised comments made by Márton Falusi, Chairman of the EKF Organising Committee, calling them fundamentally unjust and misleading. It stressed that if a host country is unable to guarantee the rights of participating athletes due to the political position of its government, it should not be awarded the right to host international competitions in the first place.
This marks the second serious protest directed at the World Karate Federation over alleged violations of athletes’ rights at the Limassol championships. A number of English cadet and junior athletes were also barred from competing, reportedly due to internal governance disputes at national level. These incidents, critics argue, reflect a broader failure to uphold the values of the Olympic Movement, with the World Karate Federation yet to provide a clear and accountable response.
Kosovo is recognised as an independent state by many European Union member states. However, due to opposition from five countries Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovakia the European Union as a whole has not formally recognised its independence from Serbia. Nevertheless, the Kosovo Karate Federation is a full and independent member of the World Karate Federation and, like all national federations, is entitled to equal rights within international sport.
