Karate at the Summer Olympics
In September 2015, karate was included in a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics; and in June 2016, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they would support the proposal to include all of the shortlisted sports in the 2020 Games. Finally, on August 3, 2016, all five sports (counting baseball and softball together as one sport) were approved for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic program.
Asian Karate Championships
The Asian Karatedo Championships are the highest level of competition for sport karate in Asia. The competition is held in a different country every two years organized by the Asian Karatedo Federation (AKF) under the supervision of World Karate Federation (WKF), the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 180 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than fifty million members. The AKF organizes the Junior and Senior Asian Karatedo Championships in every two years in between the Olympic and Asian Games and participates in WKF World Karate Championships which its member Japan play as a powerhouse country when it comes to sport karate vying for world titles with counterpart opponents from the powerful nations such as France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and Italy in many world championships.