Other Karate News!
IN 2016 THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) AGREED TO ADD SPORT-KARATE TO THE SPORTS PROGRAMME FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020.
Greg Francis English Karate Federation Board Resignation Letter.
Dear Karateka,
On Friday 14th October I reluctantly resigned as a Director from ...the EKF. I came to this decision after significant angst and deliberation. Ultimately my passion for Karate and desire to stand strong with my suspended colleagues was superseded by my principled and professional perspective, namely that the hearing is unjustified and openly prejudiced towards a negative decision. This was proved to be the case with the dismissal of Steve and Ivor on Saturday even though their contentions were credible and evidentially supported.
As a Magistrate for 20 years and Senior Officer with the National Crime Agency I operate in an environment where all processes are undertaken in a fair, just and reasonable manner. It is clear from the Board's biased, prejudicial, public letters circulated to HoA's and published on the EKF website, those principles are not uppermost in their mind. Simply put, my attendance at the hearing would have legitimised a flawed and compromised process orchestrated by individuals absent of integrity and lacking in credibility. An appearance in front of the Authors of those juvenile letters sanctioned by the EKF Lawyer was unpalatable and the outcome predetermined. I had asked, in the light of their negative communications, for an Independent panel. I, not for the first time, received no reply.
To make matters worse they (the Board) now, from a position of strength, are able to issue a statement to the members, the majority who are in the dark,proclaiming a unanimous vote to remove two of the most honest and erstwhile individuals we all know and respect..This will obfuscate if not justify their published statements about us former Directors.
This decision, as was our suspension, was undertaken in your name i.e. "in the interests of the members"..
I apologise wholeheartedly to you all for seemingly not staying the path but I cant impress enough that I am not walking away from this situation.I hope you all remain resolute as I do in bringing openness and transparency to the governance of English Federation. There are now 36 signatories to the petition and I believe you can justifiably make a collective request to the Board for an EGM. Two resignations and Two dismissals of elected Directors since the 24th July is unacceptable.. The Board can coopt on 4 members. This would mean that 6 out of 11 members would be unelected. a ludicrous situation that on its own, within any other company, would warrant an EGM. That aside, who are we now left with at the helm of the EKF:Mick Billman - Unelected, Mick Dinsdale - Unelected and Peter Consterdine elected by stealth, not the will of the members from the looks on the faces in the room at the AGM. It is also explicitly clear that he is being groomed for the Presidents election next May.As for the the remainder on the Board, they are either strategically passive and/or motivated by self interest..
Admittedly I had advanced warning of the deviance I was to encounter.. On submission of my Nomination Form I immediately faced two attempts by Mick Billman supported by Ian Stebbings the Lawyer, to disqualify me from the process. Their arguments were both overturned and the questions I asked never satisfactorily answered. The current Board are fully aware of this.. Please see the attached emails. There is a wealth of other information you all should know Including the failure of Mick Billman and Ian Stebbings to declare their business relationships, past and present. Why has this information not been made available to the Board and the members. These are some of the reasons we need an EGM.
In closing I thank you all for your support and I emain optimistic that we can bring real change to the Governance of karate. Do not forget the real power, as always, in the hands of informed members.
Regards
Greg Francis
Source: karate-site.co.uk
On Friday 14th October I reluctantly resigned as a Director from ...the EKF. I came to this decision after significant angst and deliberation. Ultimately my passion for Karate and desire to stand strong with my suspended colleagues was superseded by my principled and professional perspective, namely that the hearing is unjustified and openly prejudiced towards a negative decision. This was proved to be the case with the dismissal of Steve and Ivor on Saturday even though their contentions were credible and evidentially supported.
As a Magistrate for 20 years and Senior Officer with the National Crime Agency I operate in an environment where all processes are undertaken in a fair, just and reasonable manner. It is clear from the Board's biased, prejudicial, public letters circulated to HoA's and published on the EKF website, those principles are not uppermost in their mind. Simply put, my attendance at the hearing would have legitimised a flawed and compromised process orchestrated by individuals absent of integrity and lacking in credibility. An appearance in front of the Authors of those juvenile letters sanctioned by the EKF Lawyer was unpalatable and the outcome predetermined. I had asked, in the light of their negative communications, for an Independent panel. I, not for the first time, received no reply.
To make matters worse they (the Board) now, from a position of strength, are able to issue a statement to the members, the majority who are in the dark,proclaiming a unanimous vote to remove two of the most honest and erstwhile individuals we all know and respect..This will obfuscate if not justify their published statements about us former Directors.
This decision, as was our suspension, was undertaken in your name i.e. "in the interests of the members"..
I apologise wholeheartedly to you all for seemingly not staying the path but I cant impress enough that I am not walking away from this situation.I hope you all remain resolute as I do in bringing openness and transparency to the governance of English Federation. There are now 36 signatories to the petition and I believe you can justifiably make a collective request to the Board for an EGM. Two resignations and Two dismissals of elected Directors since the 24th July is unacceptable.. The Board can coopt on 4 members. This would mean that 6 out of 11 members would be unelected. a ludicrous situation that on its own, within any other company, would warrant an EGM. That aside, who are we now left with at the helm of the EKF:Mick Billman - Unelected, Mick Dinsdale - Unelected and Peter Consterdine elected by stealth, not the will of the members from the looks on the faces in the room at the AGM. It is also explicitly clear that he is being groomed for the Presidents election next May.As for the the remainder on the Board, they are either strategically passive and/or motivated by self interest..
Admittedly I had advanced warning of the deviance I was to encounter.. On submission of my Nomination Form I immediately faced two attempts by Mick Billman supported by Ian Stebbings the Lawyer, to disqualify me from the process. Their arguments were both overturned and the questions I asked never satisfactorily answered. The current Board are fully aware of this.. Please see the attached emails. There is a wealth of other information you all should know Including the failure of Mick Billman and Ian Stebbings to declare their business relationships, past and present. Why has this information not been made available to the Board and the members. These are some of the reasons we need an EGM.
In closing I thank you all for your support and I emain optimistic that we can bring real change to the Governance of karate. Do not forget the real power, as always, in the hands of informed members.
Regards
Greg Francis
Source: karate-site.co.uk
WORLD KARATE CAMPAIGN
21 January 2015 ·
For the attention of: National Olympic Committees as required
For the attention of: Mr Thomas Bach,
President of International Olympic Committee
Dear Mr Bach, President of International Olympic Committee
Re: Karate
We are trying to bring to the attention of the IOC that many respected karate organisations do not consider that their views are accurately, fairly represented or indeed represented at all by the World Karate Federation, in relation to some critical matters which we must bring to your attention.
We strongly urge you to note that the World Karate Federation is actually an undemocratic organisation and that it should not be the only one that governs ‘world karate society’, it truly does not speak in the interests of or represent the views of most respected karate societies and organisations.
It was widely reported that Samaranch sent WKF (ex-WUKO) a letter dated 23 December 1998, in which he approved them as the IF for karate in the Olympics. They have been listed as a provisional IF on the IOC web site for some time. Many have realized that the WKF (ex-WUKO) has been claiming that the IOC had or would approve them, and that karate would be a medal event in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the Athens 2004 Olympics, neither of which were possible.
In 1993 and again 1997 the IOC Session approved an agreement between WKF (ex-WUKO) and ITKF whereby they would merge into a unified IF for karate. The merger never occurred.
Both ITKF and WKF (ex-WUKO) claimed they worked toward the merger; however, WKF (ex-WUKO) had been requesting that the IOC remove the merger and claimed that the IOC had agreed to their request.
We must draw to your attention the question that still remains: Did Samaranch have any authority to approve an IF, particularly to repudiate the terms set by the Session for approval of such an IF?
From the point of view of many Karate Organisations, there have now been 2 decades of undemocratic rules in the WKF; the global Karate community expected WKF President Mr Antonio Espinós to take full responsibility and resign from his post when Karate was unsuccessful in its Olympic bid for a 3rd time, as the honorable decision to take. Yet Mr Espinós did not take such an honorable decision. Subsequently a letter from the WKF secretary clearly pointed to large scale corruption and 'miss-management by the President' at the heart of the organisation. This letter is still unanswered by Mr Espinós and the secretary was removed illegally from his position. Why? (WKF’s Statue 15.2: The Executive Committee will appoint an independent qualified accountant, or a firm of qualified accountants, who will be given the task of auditing annually the accounts of the WKF and reporting to it on them. For each Ordinary Congress, the appointed accountant will moreover provide a succinct report on the audit of the WKF accounts).
Further, with regards to undemocratic rules in WKF, may we bring to your attention on behalf of our many colleagues, WKF’s 21.9 statute which states: The WKF expressly prohibits their National Federations, and their components from the double affiliation with any karate organisation as it may be determined by the WKF Executive Committee to be a dissenting organisation, and also statute number 21.12: affiliated members and Individuals shall commit themselves to accept no authority other than the one of the WKF.
An appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS / CAS) is only possible after having exhausted all the internal resources foreseen in the WKF Statutes and Disciplinary Rules.
See one of the CAS decisions (CAS 2014/A/3516)
http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Award_3516.pdf
Many of the world’s most elite athletes of karate are very frustrated that the IOC can still recognize WKF as a Karate governance body and that the World Karate Federation is still using IOC recognition as a hammer for sanctioning unhappy members.
WKF policies have already divided world karate society to 3-4 large different groups. There is absolutely no unity and the situation has been much worse since August 2013 particularly when Mr Espinos’ sanctions applied directly to 4 international karate tournaments in Russia, Montenegro, Greece and Kosovo.
Most of us Senior Karateka believe passionately and wholeheartedly in the symbol of the modern Olympic Games is five coloured rings linked together. We respect that these rings represent the original then continents of North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. They also symbolize the uniting of athletes from all over the world to compete at the Olympic Games.
We also believe Mr Espinós is largely responsible for the lack of unity and harmony in World Karate. Rather than use the WKF mandate to encourage groups to join, he has sought to bully them to join through the imposition of Rule 21.9. This has created disharmony and resentment in many countries and in a number of cases led to court action against WKF on grounds of violation of human rights, most if not all of them successful.
We look forward to your guidance on this matter, many Senior, experienced and passionate Karateka like ourself feel strongly about this matter and act purely in the interests of Good and Best Karate practice and appropriate world stage recognition of the athletic skill, utter discipline of mind and body, expertise and dedication involved.
World Karate Campaign
21 January 2015 ·
For the attention of: National Olympic Committees as required
For the attention of: Mr Thomas Bach,
President of International Olympic Committee
Dear Mr Bach, President of International Olympic Committee
Re: Karate
We are trying to bring to the attention of the IOC that many respected karate organisations do not consider that their views are accurately, fairly represented or indeed represented at all by the World Karate Federation, in relation to some critical matters which we must bring to your attention.
We strongly urge you to note that the World Karate Federation is actually an undemocratic organisation and that it should not be the only one that governs ‘world karate society’, it truly does not speak in the interests of or represent the views of most respected karate societies and organisations.
It was widely reported that Samaranch sent WKF (ex-WUKO) a letter dated 23 December 1998, in which he approved them as the IF for karate in the Olympics. They have been listed as a provisional IF on the IOC web site for some time. Many have realized that the WKF (ex-WUKO) has been claiming that the IOC had or would approve them, and that karate would be a medal event in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the Athens 2004 Olympics, neither of which were possible.
In 1993 and again 1997 the IOC Session approved an agreement between WKF (ex-WUKO) and ITKF whereby they would merge into a unified IF for karate. The merger never occurred.
Both ITKF and WKF (ex-WUKO) claimed they worked toward the merger; however, WKF (ex-WUKO) had been requesting that the IOC remove the merger and claimed that the IOC had agreed to their request.
We must draw to your attention the question that still remains: Did Samaranch have any authority to approve an IF, particularly to repudiate the terms set by the Session for approval of such an IF?
From the point of view of many Karate Organisations, there have now been 2 decades of undemocratic rules in the WKF; the global Karate community expected WKF President Mr Antonio Espinós to take full responsibility and resign from his post when Karate was unsuccessful in its Olympic bid for a 3rd time, as the honorable decision to take. Yet Mr Espinós did not take such an honorable decision. Subsequently a letter from the WKF secretary clearly pointed to large scale corruption and 'miss-management by the President' at the heart of the organisation. This letter is still unanswered by Mr Espinós and the secretary was removed illegally from his position. Why? (WKF’s Statue 15.2: The Executive Committee will appoint an independent qualified accountant, or a firm of qualified accountants, who will be given the task of auditing annually the accounts of the WKF and reporting to it on them. For each Ordinary Congress, the appointed accountant will moreover provide a succinct report on the audit of the WKF accounts).
Further, with regards to undemocratic rules in WKF, may we bring to your attention on behalf of our many colleagues, WKF’s 21.9 statute which states: The WKF expressly prohibits their National Federations, and their components from the double affiliation with any karate organisation as it may be determined by the WKF Executive Committee to be a dissenting organisation, and also statute number 21.12: affiliated members and Individuals shall commit themselves to accept no authority other than the one of the WKF.
An appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS / CAS) is only possible after having exhausted all the internal resources foreseen in the WKF Statutes and Disciplinary Rules.
See one of the CAS decisions (CAS 2014/A/3516)
http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Award_3516.pdf
Many of the world’s most elite athletes of karate are very frustrated that the IOC can still recognize WKF as a Karate governance body and that the World Karate Federation is still using IOC recognition as a hammer for sanctioning unhappy members.
WKF policies have already divided world karate society to 3-4 large different groups. There is absolutely no unity and the situation has been much worse since August 2013 particularly when Mr Espinos’ sanctions applied directly to 4 international karate tournaments in Russia, Montenegro, Greece and Kosovo.
Most of us Senior Karateka believe passionately and wholeheartedly in the symbol of the modern Olympic Games is five coloured rings linked together. We respect that these rings represent the original then continents of North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. They also symbolize the uniting of athletes from all over the world to compete at the Olympic Games.
We also believe Mr Espinós is largely responsible for the lack of unity and harmony in World Karate. Rather than use the WKF mandate to encourage groups to join, he has sought to bully them to join through the imposition of Rule 21.9. This has created disharmony and resentment in many countries and in a number of cases led to court action against WKF on grounds of violation of human rights, most if not all of them successful.
We look forward to your guidance on this matter, many Senior, experienced and passionate Karateka like ourself feel strongly about this matter and act purely in the interests of Good and Best Karate practice and appropriate world stage recognition of the athletic skill, utter discipline of mind and body, expertise and dedication involved.
World Karate Campaign
