Mysuru, Oct. 13 (PM&VNS)- Adding karate to the recognised list of sports by Sports Authority of Karnataka (SAK) is at the top priority, said newly appointed SAK Vice-Chairman Arun Machaiah here yesterday.

He was speaking after receiving felicitation by the Mysore Karate Association at Yoga Mandira located at University of Mysore Sports Pavilion.

“There has been conspiracy to not recognise karate at SAK and also to exclude the sports in Khelo India. However, the attempts were foiled by a united fight as a result of which karate was added to the list in Khelo India,” he said.

Arun also added that he had held discussion with Secretary to the Government on including karate to the list of recognised sports in Karnataka and assured that the sport would be formally recognised by the Authority as early as possible.

Stating that karate was the only sport to have Associations in all 31 districts of the State, he said Karnataka had the highest number of karatekas.

Mentioning that there were three Karate Associations in Kodagu with Olympians as its members, Arun called upon the Associations to work under a single roof to have a good future.

He also mentioned during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the Chairman of SAK, issues related to Sports Hostels and others were discussed and sought the co-operation of Sports Associations in execution of his ideas to improve sports. “SAK has been allocated three rooms at Sri Kanteerava Stadium. I will ensure that a sophisticated room is also allocated to Karate Association at the Stadium,” he added.

Earlier, the felicitation event was inaugurated by MLA G.T. Devegowda. Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) President K. Deepak, Mysore Karate Association President S. Sunil Kumar, Secretary Bharati Anand, Vice-President Shankar, Joint Secretary Chidanand and Directors Sosale Siddaraju, Mahadevaswamy, Nagaraj and others were present.