The World Karate Federation stayed in the black in 2020 ©Getty Images

The World Karate Federation (WKF) succeeded in staying in the black in 2020, in spite of the rampant COVID-19 pandemic.

Accounts published on the body’s website show it recorded a small surplus for the year of CHF34,345 (£27,476/$37,093/€32,628).

This was although income tumbled appreciably to CHF1.56 million (£1.25 million/$1.68 million/€1.5 million) from CHF2.53 million (£2 million/$2.7 million/€2.4 million) in 2019.

A budget for 2021, also on the WKF website, indicates that the federation expects income to rebound to CHF2.74 million (£2.2 million/$3 million/€2.6 million).

By far the largest single element of this is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) grant of more than CHF1.55 million (£1.2 million/$1.7 million/€1.5 million).

This would be the equivalent of 56.5 per cent – a high level of dependence.

Karate made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 but will not be a part of the Paris 2024 programme ©Getty Images
Karate made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 but will not be a part of the Paris 2024 programme ©Getty Images

Karate was one of four new sports added to the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020 but was left off the sport programme for Paris 2024.

WKF President Antonio Espinós wrote recently to IOC President Thomas Bach to outline why the organisation believes the sport’s omission from Paris 2024 is an "injustice".

In July 2020, it was announced the WKF was one of five International Federations to receive a donation from the IOC.

This was part of approximately $63 million (£49 million/€54 million) that Bach said had been allocated to IFs since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

Additional sports, such as karate, are not, however, entitled to a share of the revenue generated by Tokyo 2020.