From September 12 to 14, the Mediterranean Karate Championship will be held in Pristina, which is expected to gather in Kosovo over 20 countries that have the highest level of karate.

Kosovo won this right after strong lobbying by the Karate Federation, because this competition was initially entrusted to Egypt. This was announced by the secretary of this federation, Nazmi Gashi.

“Actually, this was scheduled earlier in the competition calendar, it was taken from Egypt. We took it from Egypt after Egypt put it on the world competition calendar. This happened because the General Assembly, when we were in Olbia, and we officially applied for the organization, and we said that we need to put the country to a test before organizing the Mediterranean Games of 2030,” says Gashi.

Gashi said that countries with a high level of organization in the sport of karate will arrive in Kosovo, including Egypt, France and Spain.

“The Mediterranean Karate Federation is the home of elite karate players. Somewhere over 70 percent of the world medals go to the Mediterranean region. That is, we are talking about elite karate that takes place in Egypt, France, Spain, Turkey, in countries that are ranked high in world. We expect 20-23 countries to participate. We do not expect some countries to participate, however, it will be the highest level of karate competitions that have ever taken place not only in our region but in all of Southeast Europe”, Gashi further emphasizes.

Serbia is also part of the Mediterranean Federation, a country for which Gashi says that if it expresses interest in being part of the competition, Kosovo will be open.

“We know for sure because it is our neighbor. Will it come or will it express interest in coming is another matter, but normally in these big events they don’t participate. However, when asked by World Federation officials if Serbia agrees to come, will you accept to have them, we said yes, of course, we will welcome them like all other national teams”, said Gashi.

As for Kosovo’s goals in terms of sports, the Karate Federation secretary emphasized that it will compete with the best karate players and that he expects them to make the country proud with their performances.

“We will participate with our best athletes. We have now included in the financial planning the joint camp that the federation will organize for elite athletes with the aim of participating as best as possible in this championship, to do well as Kosovo since it is organized here… We are hoping that our athletes will make us and all of Kosovo proud, this has also been one of the goals that in the internal mobilization of clubs and coaches we mobilize so that we can really have a good performance”, Gashi concluded.

Although the final decision has not yet been made, this championship is expected to be held at the Youth Palace or at the “October 1” hall in Pristina, while the Student Center can also be used to accommodate the visitors.