Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
An article titled "Kosovo karate fighters excluded from Europeans in Cyprus due to state symbols" was published on Tuesday (February 10) by the "News Agency"KosovaPress.com".
What's wrong with this title?
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it was determined that the title of this article does not match the content.
After clicking on the article, it becomes clear that "the Kosovo karate team did not participate in the European Championship for cadets, juniors and U21, held in Limassol, Cyprus, due to a discriminatory act by the organizing state, which did not allow the appearance with state symbols."
Cyprus does not recognize Kosovo's independence.
This article also includes an interview given by the secretary of the Kosovo Karate Federation (KFF), Nazmi Gashi.
He stated that the Cypriot authorities, because they do not recognize the state of Kosovo, did not allow Kosovar athletes to compete on an equal footing with other countries, using the flag, anthem and national symbols. As an alternative, the Kosovo team was proposed to participate under the flag of the Karate Federation, but this was deemed unacceptable by the (FKK).
Gashi's statement given to KosovaPress.com (see here and here)
"Last weekend, the European Championship for Cadets, Juniors and U21 was held in Cyprus, in Limassol. Kosovo did not participate there because in the official communication we had with the Cyprus Federation and the European Federation, Cyprus does not recognize the state of Kosovo and has not accepted that we are equal like all other states, that we appear there with an anthem, with symbols, with a flag. But it said that you can come here and participate under the flag of the Kosovo Karate Federation, which was unacceptable to us," Gashi first tells.
"We feel discriminated against and without symbols we will not participate not only in Cyprus, but in any country where they are not allowed as equal athletes to participate in equal conditions with everyone. That is why we did not travel there at all. We have notified the board and the assembly of the federation. We have started communication or sent the first letter as early as October 8, 2025, because we knew that in 2023 we had the same problem in Cyprus and we knew that we could have problems again. And we have not received any response until January 20. On January 20, we received a letter, an email from the Cyprus Federation stating that Cyprus does not recognize the state of Kosovo and you can only participate under the flag of the federation.".
"We will definitely file a complaint and in the next assemblies we will raise our voices so that these championships are not given to countries that do not recognize states or do not allow athletes to participate as equals with all other athletes. Because it is a great loss for athletes. We have had several potential athletes who could have won European medals in this competition and they are prevented from participating in the competition," Gashi said finally.
So, in no case was the sentence "Kosovo karate players excluded" mentioned within the article, neither by the publisher nor by the secretary of the FKK!
The article with the same title was later published in online media.Euronews.al".
context
The Kosovo Karate Federation was notified by the Cypriot authorities and the European Karate Federation (EKF) that representing Kosovo with the national flag and anthem would not be allowed, which would put the Kosovo team in an unequal position compared to athletes from other countries.
As an alternative, (EKF) proposed that athletes from Kosovo compete under the name and flag of the Kosovo Karate Federation, in accordance with the legal restrictions in force in Cyprus.
However, the leaders of the Kosovo Karate Federation rejected this proposal and decided not to participate in the main continental event, a decision which was approved by the Federation's Executive Board and Working Assembly.
Analyze
The article published by KosovaPress with the title "Kosovar karatekas are excluded from the European Championship in Cyprus due to state symbols" does not match the content.
After verification by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that Kosovar karatekas were not excluded, but did not participate in the European Championships in Cyprus due to discriminatory conditions imposed by the organizing state, which does not recognize Kosovo's independence.
According to the statement of the secretary of the Kosovo Karate Federation, Nazmi Gashi, the Cypriot authorities did not allow the team to appear with the flag, anthem and state symbols, while the European Karate Federation offered as an alternative participation under the federation's flag, which was rejected by the FKK. However, the Kosovar team decided not to travel to Cyprus at all.
Therefore, based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates this article as "Clickbait".
rationale
“Clickbait” is considered to be informational content whose title is general and does not disclose the location of the event, context and relevance. Such texts and articles aim to attract the attention of the audience with sensational headlines with misleading consequences, which do not accurately clarify the content of the article. “Clickbait” headlines are mainly made to attract readability in the case of media publications and/or to earn from clicks in the case of commercial publications.