International Kiteboarding Association Statement

(February 2, 2016) – The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) has been informed by the CEO of World Sailing (WS, formerly ISAF), that WS has requested IFKO (“International Federation of Kitesports Organisations”) to immediately remove and furthermore cease to publish or promote any information which makes a claim in terms of its relationship with the IOC and its plans for the sport of Kiteboarding.

World Sailing has ascertained that IFKO is not currently a member of SportAccord and therefore has no formal recognition. A prerequisite of membership of this body is that the applicant’s sport is different from any sport that is governed by a current SportAccord member. World Sailing is a current SportAccord member, it is therefore unlikely that IFKO will be granted membership and World Sailing is currently waiting for confirmation of this by SportAccord.

World Sailing has also instructed IFKO that World Sailing’s approval is required for any event that is described as a ‘World Championship’ or ‘World Cup’ or indeed uses the word “World” in the title of the event and this approval extends to all Kiteboarding events using World Sailing rules and regulations.

Such events that are run in contravention of World Sailing rules and regulations will be listed as prohibited events that can seriously affect the eligibility of riders to compete in other World Sailing events requiring World Sailing Eligibility, namely World and Continental Championships of all IKA classes (including the IKA Kiteboarding World Championships in Freestyle, Big Air and Wave, the IKA KiteFoil GoldCup and the IKA Racing World Championships), the Sailing World Cup, the Youth Olympic Games, and the Olympic Games.

We regret that IFKO does not comply with world wide recognized principles for the recognition of International Federations. It is IKA’s responsibility to make all riders aware of the risk they will take when participating in IFKO events, namely not being able to compete in IKA sanctioned events of all disciplines, and World Sailings events. The same extends to event officials, be it race directors, jury and judges.

Report by IKA Media

IKA Website