The Traditional Karate Federation has been entrusted the organisation of the European Traditional Karate Championships in Malta. This will be the first time ever that Europe’s best karate athletes will be coming over for such a unique spectacle.
This event, to be held between 4 and 5 June, at the Cottonera Sports Complex, will bring to Malta over 300 athletes from 28 European countries together with officials, coaches and supporters who will make Malta their home for the first few days of June.
Addressing the press, federation president Robert Micallef said the championships are an annual event and last year Macedonia was the host nation.
There Malta won a fourth individual placing through Omar Azzopardi, while the seniors team and the seniors kata team finished creditable fifth.
Through this important event, the Traditional Karate Federation of Malta will be making an important contribution to the island’s sport tourism.
Twenty six categories will be contested in all the events. The largest contingents are expected to come from Italy who have 27 confirmed participants, and Poland who, so far, are the largest contingent with 42 participants.
The Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport – Malta’s Sports Council – is actively supporting this initiative and is in fact the main sponsor for this European Championship.
Speaking at the event’s launch yesterday, Joe Cassar, chief executive officer of the Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport, said that assisting this event forms part of the International Participation Local Assistance (IPLA) Scheme, which strives to help local bodiesorganise events of an international dimension as well as to promote sports tourism on the island.
The Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport has embarked on a general strategy to promote Malta as a sports destination, as well as to assist local sports organisations to evolve and strengthen their presence on a local and international level, in order to promote the tourism product.
Iden Azzopardi, tournament organising committee chairman, called for interested volunteers to step forward and register with the Malta Federation to provide assistance during these championships. One hundred and twenty volunteers are needed for this event. Those with experience on court, clerical, transport, security, information technology, crowd marshalling and general administration work are being asked to join in.
The Traditional Karate Federation of Malta is confident that once again, members of the general public will volunteer to help during this important international sporting event.
In Malta, a number of different events will be held during the European Championships. These will involve Kumite (Free Sparring), Kata (Forms), Enbu (Offense-Defence Technique Demonstration) and Fuku-go (a combination of free sparring and forms). Each category is based on a system of points awarded by judges. In all cases, any form of contact is prohibited and should it occur, points are deducted and in severe cases, athletes are even disqualified.
The Traditional Karate Federation of Malta is confident that the organisation of these European Championships will continue to put Malta on the international sporting map and the sporting public is being invited to visit the Cottonera Sports Complex during the tournament to savour the very best that Europe has to offer in Traditional Karate.
For further information, one may refer to the website www.karatemalta.com/euro2005.