The World Karate Federation plans to test camera and artificial-intelligence support for referees at the Karate 1-Youth League in Venice in December 2026. Vietnam’s sports authority reported that the system is intended to provide additional visual information during kumite, while final decisions remain with human officials.
Scoring actions, boundaries and video review
Fast attacking and defensive movements can make karate decisions difficult to observe in real time. The proposed system combines cameras around the competition area with analysis of multiple angles to help identify potentially scoring techniques.
It also targets jogai situations, when an athlete steps outside the permitted area. Positional information near the edge could supplement the referee’s view of a close boundary incident.
For video review, the software is designed to flag important moments in advance. The stated aim is quicker access to relevant footage and less interruption, rather than an already demonstrated improvement across all reviews.
A trial rather than universal deployment
Venice is presented as an opportunity to assess the technology in competition. The report does not announce adoption at every karate event or at Vietnam’s National Games.
WKF president Antonio Espinós described refereeing improvement as part of the sport’s development while retaining its traditional foundations. Under the reported approach, AI provides support rather than taking final authority from officials on the tatami.
The next step is the December trial and an assessment of how the system handles actual scoring, boundary and review situations. Those findings will be more informative about its usefulness than assumptions about wider deployment before the test.