30/06/2019
It has come to our attention that there are some negative comments doing the rounds regarding the officiating at SFL 06.
First of all we would like to thank all of the Kickboxers that fought last night. You are all true warriors and your performances showed the public what Kickboxing is all about! Also to our SFL Supporters, you are the people that understand what we as SFL are trying to do for the sport of Kickboxing. Our goal at SFL is to create a platform where top level Kickboxers can showcase their skills and gain exposure into the international market. As many of you know, these athletes work extremely hard and love the sport of Kickboxing. However, there aren’t many opportunities in South Africa for these fighters to become famous, and to make a career of the sport that they have so much passion for.
It’s our goal at SFL to provide this platform for the fighters to become legends in Kickboxing in their own country and eventually internationally. When we decided to start this journey, we knew that there were going to be some challenges in accomplishing these goals. This is the reason why the decision was made to cancel two of our events in 2018. During this period we as SFL sat down with the Executive Board of SAKA in order to resolve certain issues that arose from previous events.
We take all of these comments very seriously, but we ask all of you to please help us to evolve the sport. Once again our event last night proved that we have outstanding Kickboxers here in South Africa, they just lack opportunities to showcase their skills on a large platform. Any positive criticism is always welcomed, as it will help everyone that’s involved to improve and ultimately move closer to the goal.
Just to clarify once again, SFL is a promotion and SAKA (South African Kickboxing Association) is completely independent of SFL, as all sanctioning bodies need to be. They are in charge of the regulation and sanctioning of SFL. We as a promotion decided to affiliate to SAKA because of them being the largest Kickboxing association in the country, and they are also affiliated to the largest international Kickboxing association, called WAKO. SAKA appoints all officials and this list is given to SFL a few days prior to the event.
Kickboxing in South Africa needs your continuous support in assisting the growth and evolution of the sport.