On the evening before the youngest generation of karate stepped onto the tatami in Bielsko-Biała, the sport's governing body looked a year ahead. Meeting on 13 October in the Redutowa Palace, the 2026 Congress of the World Karate Federation ratified the host cities of four major events, and one line of that list carried particular weight: the Final Phase of the 2027 World Karate Championships will be held in Milano-Bergamo, Italy.
The WKF event page sets the dates at 11 to 14 November 2027. The Qualification Phase that precedes it was ratified for Tangier, Morocco. Italy has long been a familiar stop on the international circuit, but it has never before staged the senior World Championships.
A Congress with a long agenda
The host-city vote was one item among many. Representatives of some ninety countries gathered in Bielsko-Biała, where the World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships run from 14 to 18 October. They elected a new Executive Committee, reviewed the reports of the President, the General Secretary and the Treasurer, approved the audited accounts for 2024 and 2025 and the budgets for 2026 and 2027, and voted on changes to the WKF Statutes. The 2027 sports calendar, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Social Legacy Programme were also on the table.
Alongside Milano-Bergamo and Tangier, the Congress confirmed Guadalajara, Mexico, for the 2028 World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships, and Tokyo, Japan, for the 2028 World Cup. According to the WKF's account, the Italian Federation presented its project for the 2027 senior Worlds to the delegates.
WKF President Antonio Espinós closed by thanking the national federations. "Our unity is one of our greatest strengths, and the progress we have made over the last period has been tremendous," he said, pointing to the growing popularity of karate and the standard of its events.
Two acts, two countries
Since the last edition, the senior World Championships have come in two parts. In 2025 the Qualification Tournament was held in Paris and the Final Phase in Cairo. The 2027 cycle follows the same design, with North Africa hosting the qualifying stage and Lombardy the final, where the world titles in kata and kumite will be decided.
When the WKF unveiled its 2027 calendar in July, Milano-Bergamo was already listed for the Final Phase. The Congress has now given that choice its formal ratification.
"The history of Italian karate"
The first Italian voice to react was that of Davide Benetello, president of the karate sector of FIJLKAM, the Italian federation, and one of the six European representatives elected to the new WKF Executive Committee in Bielsko-Biała. On Facebook the next day, under the heading "The history of Italian karate", he wrote that the Congress had awarded the event to Italy unanimously.
"For the first time in the history of our Federation, Italy will have the honour and the responsibility of organising the WKF Senior World Karate Championships!" he wrote. "An extraordinary milestone, which rewards years of commitment, international credibility and organisational capacity of our country. Today we are not only celebrating a great event, but the recognition of a journey and the trust that the world of karate places in Italy and in FIJLKAM." He ended: "In 2027, the world of karate will speak Italian once again!"
His post carried a "World Karate Championships Milano-Bergamo 2027" logo, images from the Congress hall and a short promotional film about Italy.
A road built in stages
The bid itself was made public on 28 March 2026, during the Italian national championships at the PalaPellicone in Ostia. In its announcement, FIJLKAM placed it in a longer sequence: the Karate 1 Premier League stop in Rome, awarded again for 2027 (the WKF calendar sets it for 11 to 14 March), the Youth League in Venice and Jesolo, now an annual fixture, and the 2024 World Cadet, Junior and U21 Championships, held in Venice.
Thirteen months will separate the vote in Poland from the first bouts in Lombardy. In Bielsko-Biała, meanwhile, the attention has already returned to the tatami, where more than two thousand young athletes begin their own World Championships this week. Some of them may well be back on the start lists in Milano-Bergamo.
Sources
- WKF, "WKF Congress Elects New Executive Committee and Confirms Major Events for 2027 and 2028 as Progress of Karate is Highlighted", 14 October 2026: https://www.wkf.net/news-center/article/!/3328/wkf-congress-elects-new-executive-committee-and-confirms-major-events-for-2027-and-2028-as-progress-of-karate-is-highlighted
- WKF, 2027 World Senior Championships – Final Phase Event: https://www.wkf.net/world-championships/championship/!/465/2027-world-senior-championships-final-phase-event
- WKF, World Championships (past and future editions): https://www.wkf.net/world-championships
- WKF, "WKF Launches 2027 Competition Calendar Featuring Packed International Season", 28 July 2026: https://www.wkf.net/news-center/article/!/3250/wkf-launches-2027-competition-calendar-featuring-packed-international-season
- FIJLKAM, "La candidatura italiana per i Mondiali di karate 2027", 28 March 2026: https://www.fijlkam.it/karate/news-karate/11336-la-candidatura-italiana-per-i-mondiali-di-karate-2027.html
- Davide Benetello, Facebook post, 14 October 2026: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10165059397329530&id=711994529
Photo: wkf.net
