Bujumbura (Burundi) hosted the 2017 Friendship Games which was organized under the auspices of the “Peace and Sport” organization which is a politically non aligned organization working towards the betterment and development of peace, through sports.
Peace and Sports working together with “Champions for Peace” French paralympian Jean Baptiste Alaize who represented France at the 2016 Paralympic Games, Taekwondo Star Pascal Gentil (who also represented France in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens) and former French National Rugby skipper Jean Francois Tordo who has a total of 18 International Rugby Union caps from 1991 to 1993 (including 2 wins of the Five Nations Championship in 1992 and 1993) along with the National Olympic Committee of Burundi and nine other International Federations of which most were the international governing bodies of various sports, brought together a total of 200 children from the neighbouring states – Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Karate event was held in both Kata and Kumite events categorized by ages ranging from 9 years to 17 of both boys and girls.
It is noteworthy to see the inclusion of Karate in the 2017 Friendship Games which is the 8th edition of the event while in the backdrop the Olympic Committee stamping down its seal finally to give approval for Karate to be featured in the Olympics where the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will see Karate stepping on to the Olympic tatamis for the very first time in history, thus, marking an important milestone in the life of the sport.
The President of the World Karate Federation, Antonio Espinos remarked that the World Karate Federation is driven to putting the traditional values of Karate into action to drive a change in society through sport and that the Karate fraternity is honoured to be a part of the Friendship Games. He also went on to thank the Peace and Sport Organization for the shared goal of using the power of sports to build a brighter future for youngsters around the world.
The World Karate Federation contributed to the event by way of providing technical assistance and necessary equipment holding multiple workshops throughout the duration of the event which was mainly directed by the Burundi Karate Federation which was headed by its president Christophe Nkurunziza, while the International Boxing Association held boxing demonstrations in supporting the cause of the Friendship Games.
The other international sports governing bodies that contributed to the Games were:
- International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
- International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
- International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB)
- International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF)
- International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
- World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)
- World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)
The Peace and Sport Organization currently provides support in all aspects to run six sports centers which come within the African Great Lakes region. These sport centers in return are used during the Friendship Games that take place annually.
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