European Karate Championships

Events from 1966 to 1996 were organized by the European Karate Union. In 1961, Jacques Delcourt was appointed President of French Karate, which was at that stage, an associated member of the Judo Federation. In 1963, he invited six other known European federations (Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Spain) to come to France for the first-ever international karate event. Great Britain and Belgium accepted the invitation.[2]

By 1965, the European Karate Union was created with Jacques Delcourt voted in as President.[3] The following year the first European Karate Championships were held in Paris. The event drew roughly three hundred spectators and was shown live on television. It drew criticism for being too violent as there were many facial injuries. The EKU council had differing opinions about the cause(s) of the injuries. With opinions ranging from excessive violations of rules to lack of conditioning and blocking skill, this problem was addressed in some part, at the first referee course held in Rome. At that time, the refereeing rules were harmonised using the JKA rules as a basis.[4]

The 2023 event was scheduled to be held in Moscow, Russia but the country was stripped of the right to host the event after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]

EKU Championships (1966–1992) and EKF Championships (since 1993).[6] Para Karate was added to championships since 2018.[7][8][9][10][11]

Edition Year Host City Host Country Events Organized by European Karate Union (EKU) 1 1966 Paris  France 2 2 1967 London  United Kingdom 2 3 1968 Paris  France 2 4 1969 London  United Kingdom 2 5 1970 Hamburg  Germany 2 6 1971 Paris  France 2 7 1972 Brussels  Belgium 5 8 1973 Valencia  Spain 5 9 1974 London  United Kingdom 5 10 1975 Ostend  Belgium 5 11 1976 Tehran  Iran 7 12 1977 Paris  France 7 13 1978 Geneva   Switzerland 7 14 1979 Helsinki  Finland 9 15 1980 Barcelona  Spain 12 16 1981 Venice  Italy 12 17 1982 Gothenburg  Sweden 15 18 1983 Madrid  Spain 15 19 1984 Paris  France 16 20 1985 Oslo  Norway 16 21 1986 Madrid  Spain 16 22 1987 Glasgow  United Kingdom 16 23 1988 Genoa  Italy 17 24 1989 Titograd  Yugoslavia 17 25 1990 Vienna  Austria 17 26 1991 Hannover  Germany 18 27 1992 Den Bosch  Netherlands 17 Organized by European Karate Federation (EKF) 28 1993 Prague  Czech Republic 17 29 1994 Birmingham  England 17 30 1995 Helsinki  Finland 17 31 1996 Paris  France 17 32 1997 Tenerife  Spain 17 33 1998 Belgrade Yugoslavia 17 34 1999 Euboea  Greece 17 35 2000 Istanbul  Turkey 17

Edition Year Host City Host Country Events 36 2001 Sofia  Bulgaria 17 37 2002 Tallinn  Estonia 17 38 2003 Bremen  Germany 17 39 2004 Moscow  Russia 17 40 2005 Tenerife  Spain 17 41 2006 Stavanger  Norway 17 42 2007 Bratislava  Slovakia 17 43 2008 Tallinn  Estonia 17 44 2009 Zagreb  Croatia 16 45 2010 Athens  Greece 16 46 2011 Zurich   Switzerland 16 47 2012 Tenerife  Spain 16 48 2013 Budapest  Hungary 16 49 2014 Tampere  Finland 16 50 2015 Istanbul  Turkey 16 51 2016 Montpellier  France 16 52 2017 Kocaeli  Turkey 16 53 2018 Novi Sad  Serbia 16+6 54 2019 Guadalajara  Spain 16+6 55 2020 Baku  Azerbaijan Cancelled 56 2021 Poreč  Croatia 16+8 57 2022 Gaziantep  Turkey 16+8 58 2023 Guadalajara  Spain 16+8 59 2024 Zadar  Croatia 60 2025 Baku  Azerbaijan 61 2026 Kiev  Ukraine 62 2027 Paris  France 63 2028 TBC  Serbia

• European Juniors Karate Championships
• fr:Championnats d'Europe de karaté juniors et cadets

• European Karate Federation