“Dear All,
First of all, I would like to thank all European countries and their teams for being a part of this
WAKO World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.
Massive participation of the WAKO members coming from Europe was one of my dreams ever
since, it shows the strength and popularity of kickboxing among youth all over the Europe. I can’t let
this event close without thanking all young kickboxers who have participated at the worlds. Guys,
you were amazing. The level of strength, skills, discipline, resilience and well behavior you have
shown at this championships was simply wonderful and we all can be proud of you.
I would also thank to their parents for having a faith in our organization, letting their children to
come to Budapest without any worries, believing that we in WAKO will stick to our commitments
and that all will go well. It’s difficult for me to express my gratitude in words for this.
Now I would like to come to the highlight of this event. From 55 countries which recorded a success
by winning medals, 37 are from Europe. United Kingdom, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Türkiye,
Bulgaria are among the most successful nations. Poland, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom and Greece
are the countries which participated by the numerous teams: Poland had over 200, all others more
than 130 competitors. This is simply amazing.
Also, I would also stress the number of referees coming from Europe: from 129 participating
referees, 99 were from Europe. They have executed all their duties with so much of passion and
zeal, and not to mention the level of their expertize in refereeing which is under any doubt on the
highest level.
The coaches left a strong impression on me during this event: they were the essence of this event,
caring and supporting sensitive emotions of the young fighters, boys and girls, being there for them
in the moments of their fail and the moments of their glory, crying and cheering for and with them. It
has been a privilege to be a part of this event along with this guys. I am sure they were having a lot
of interactions, learnings and experiences that have been shared these seven days with their
colleagues from other countries and teams and that is something which will move along with them
outside this venue as our lifelong learning.
It has been a pleasure seeing you all together and having seeing the prettiest smiles on the faces of
young kickboxers this seven days of the tournament. I hope you’ve safely reached your homes.
Yours sincerely,
Istvan Kiraly
WAKO Europe President”