AFCKO championship cancelled
The African Full Contact Karate Organisation (AFCKO) Senior Karate Championship, which was scheduled to take place in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, on March 28 has been postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Sensei Thulani Sibisi, AFCKO president, said the postponement has to do with the call made by President Cyril Ramaphosa to forbid any gathering of more than 100 people in one place.
He said: “As AFCKO, we respect the call made by the state president. At the same time we do not want to risk the lives of people as we are expecting more than 350 participants from all the nine provinces of this country,” said Sibisi.
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He said everything was planned accordingly for this event to be a success.
“Selection was done at Lenasia on March 7 under the guidance of sensei Muzi Zulu IKKF and sensei Thabo Mbhatha, Gauteng Kyokushinkaikan. Everything went well and everyone was looking forward to taking part in this event,” said Sibisi.
Sibisi added: “AFCKO is very impressed with the support from parents. However, it was very disappointing that the tournament had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But we still have hopes this will pass and the programmes of the organisation will carry on.”
He added that AFCKO has not called off its classes.
“Most of our classes are continuing, but in keeping students safe, they are all encouraged to wash their hands before and after training sessions and use hand sanitisers. Only Thokoza Karate Club and Alafang Dojo from Katlehong have been closed until further notice,” he said.
AFCKO’s Olympic Junior Tournament, which was next event planned after the championship, was meant to take place on May 23 at Thokoza Auditorium Hall.
“We are still not sure if we are going to host the event or not. We will wait and hear from the municipality to give us the go-ahead.”
As for the KZN event, Sibisi said they are waiting for the pandemic to die down.
“We had April 25 in mind, but we will hear from other stakeholders to confirm if this date will suit them,” said Sibisi.
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