Bangladesh lose hosting rights of C’wealth Karate Championship

The 11th Commonwealth Karate Championship, which was supposed to take place in Dhaka from September 25 to 29, has been shifted to South Africa amid security concerns following the recent student-led people's movement in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh had been awarded hosting rights last year and the tournament was supposed to take place at the Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium where some 1200 participants from 35 to 40 countries were supposed to take part.

But the Commonwealth Karate Federation has shifted the competition to Durban, South Africa from November 27 to December 2.

"We won the bid to host the competition during the last edition which was held in Birmingham, England. We were preparing to host the event but the Commonwealth Games Federation has shifted the venue to Durban. They informed us on August 8 or 9," Bangladesh Karate Federation (BKF) vice president Mohammad Iqbal Hossain said today.

Even though the federation claimed to be preparing to host the mega event, they had only started the selection process of players in early July.

"We could not start the camp after the selection because of the student's movement but the players of different service teams were in training," said Iqbal.

The BKF vice president also said that Bangladesh might not participate in the tournament in South Africa owing to a financial crunch.

"The former general secretary [Kaw Shaw Hla], whose resignation was accepted on last Saturday, helped the federation a lot financially. Now, I don't know how to manage the funds to send the squad to South Africa. Chances of us sending a team to South Africa are quite low."