The Asian Karate Federation earned words of support from Antonio Espinós during its Extraordinary Congress in Malaysia ©AKF

Antonio Espinós, President of the World Karate Federation (WKF), has praised the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) for its "dedication and passion" duriing its Extraordinary Congress at Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

"In the WKF we have achieved a tremendous success all over the world in the last years and these accomplishments could not be reached without the contribution and hard work of the Continental Federations," said Espinós.

"Karate would not have grown into the amazing sport that it is today without the example of dedication and passion for the sport of the continental federations like the AKF.

"I can only thank the AKF and its President Kuang-Huei Chang for their cooperation and I am sure that together we will continue taking karate where it deserves to be."

The Asian Karate Federation's Executive Committee has been looking ahead to elections later this year ©AKF
The Asian Karate Federation's Executive Committee has been looking ahead to elections later this year ©AKF

Karate is due to make its debut on the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020, although it has controversially been overlooked for Paris 2024. 

The WKF general secretary Toshihisa Nagura represented the world governing body at the AKF Executive Committee meetings and Extraordinary Congress.

Among the topics of discussion were the allocation of upcoming events and the approval of statutes to guide the elections due to will take place in June at Tashkent in Uzbekistan – on the eve of the AKF Championships - for the Presidency and Executive Committee membership.