Before the young competitors of the 2026 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships stepped onto the tatami in Bielsko-Biała, the people who speak for athletes sat down around a table in the same Polish city. The Athletes' Commission of the World Karate Federation met there, with WKF President Antonio Espinós in attendance, to review the situation of karate athletes around the world and to settle a question of succession. When the meeting ended, Douglas Brose had been appointed chair, taking over from Davide Benetello, who had led the commission for sixteen years.
Sixteen years as the athletes' voice
The meeting was first of all a farewell to a long tenure. According to the WKF, the position of athletes within the federation reached unprecedented levels under Benetello's leadership, with their views and concerns gaining recognition at every level of the organisation. Over those years, the federation writes, the commission played an important role in making sure that athletes' voices were heard and that their interests were represented within the WKF's decision-making structures.
Benetello knew the athlete's side of the table from experience: the Italian was world champion in 1994 and won several European titles. Espinós chose warm words for him. "I would like to thank Davide Benetello for his many years leading the Athletes' Commission and for being one of the main forces behind the tremendous progress we have achieved over the years," the WKF President said. "His work at the head of the commission will never be thanked enough. He has helped ensure that athletes have a stronger voice within our organisation and that the progress of Karate around the world not only reaches unprecedented heights but is sustained over the years and in years to come."
Benetello does not leave the federation's governance. At the WKF Congress held in Bielsko-Biała on 13 October, he was among the six European representatives elected to the new Executive Committee, and it was he, introduced as the outgoing chair, who presented the Athletes' Commission report to the national federations. The same Congress ratified Milano-Bergamo as host of the final phase of the 2027 World Championships, as we reported.
A champion of the 60 kg
His successor was chosen by a vote of the commission. The WKF describes Brose as a "Brazilian karate icon", a three-time world champion and "one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the sport". The record behind those words was written in kumite, in the men's 60 kg category: world titles in Belgrade in 2010, in Bremen in 2014 and in Dubai in 2021, framed by a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2008 and a silver in Paris in 2012. He also won gold at the 2009 World Games and at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, before ending his competitive career, at 37, with a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.
Sixteen years at the head of the commission is almost the length of that career at world level, from a first world medal in Tokyo to the farewell in Santiago. The handover passes the role from a world champion of the 1990s to one whose titles span the 2010s and the early 2020s, and it keeps the chair in the hands of someone who has lived the athlete's life from the inside.
"Congratulations to Douglas Brose on his appointment," Espinós said. "He has achieved extraordinary success on the tatami, and I am sure he will bring the same determination and commitment to his work at the head of the commission."
A table drawn from several continents
The photographs published by the WKF show the commission gathered around its new chair: Vassiliki Panetsidou of Greece, Elena Quirici of Switzerland, Grace Lau Mo-sheung of Hong Kong and Antonio Díaz of Venezuela, alongside Benetello himself. Kumite and kata, Europe, Asia and the Americas: the table brings together careers built in different disciplines and on different continents, the range of experience on which a body speaking for athletes worldwide can draw.
By the WKF's account, Brose's appointment marks a new chapter for the commission as it continues to represent karate athletes and contribute to the development of the sport worldwide. That it was decided in Bielsko-Biała gives it a particular resonance. In the same city, cadets, juniors and U21 athletes were preparing to compete for world titles, and some of them will one day be the athletes whose concerns the commission carries into the federation's decision-making. The man who won his third world title at 35 now takes on a different kind of responsibility: making sure their voices are heard as clearly as his once was on the tatami.
Sources
- World Karate Federation, WKF Athletes' Commission Meets in Bielsko-Biala and Appoints Douglas Brose as New Chair, 14 October 2026
- World Karate Federation, WKF Congress Elects New Executive Committee and Confirms Major Events for 2027 and 2028 as Progress of Karate is Highlighted, 14 October 2026
- Wikipedia, Douglas Brose
- Wikipedia (Italian), Davide Benetello
- Wikipedia, Elena Quirici, Grace Lau, Antonio Díaz (karateka), 2022 European Karate Championships – Women's 68 kg
Photo: wkf.net
