For the International Judo Federation, IJF Secretary General Dr Lisa Allan, IJF Sport Director Ms Hedvig Karakas and IJF Referee Director Ms Tina Trstenjak were present at the draw which took place at the Oro Verde hotel in central Guayaquil on Wednesday 19th August 2026.
For the Ecuadorian Judo Federation, guests included EJF President Mr Israel Verdugo, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Ecuador Vice President Mr Roberto Ibanez and Ecuadorian Judo Federation board member Mr Roberto Danin.
To welcome the global judo community to the draw, Dr Lisa Allan opened the occasion, “Dear judo family, we are honoured to be here today, in the historical city of Guayaquil, together with our colleagues from the Ecuadorian Judo Federation, President Israel Verdugo, board member Roberto Dañin and Vice-Minister of sports of the Republic of Ecuador Roberto Ibáñez.
On behalf of the International Judo Federation, Mr Marius Vizer, and the International Judo Federation, we extend a warm welcome to the IJF World Championships for Cadets Individuals and Mixed Teams. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to President Verdugo and his team for their unwavering commitment, passion and dedication to delivering this second IJF World Judo Tour event in Ecuador."
"This event brings together our global judo family from every corner of the world, united by our shared values and our passion for judo. Over the coming days we will have the opportunity to witness the very best young judoka compete at the highest level, in front of fans here in the Coliseo Voltaire Paladines Polo and around the world through Judo TV, our live-streaming platform.
A special and sincere thank you goes to all our member national federations and sponsors for their continued trust and support. We wish everyone a wonderful competition and an unforgettable celebration of world-class judo. Welcome to Guayaquil and good luck to all our young athletes!”
Mr Roberto Ibanez also welcomed everyone to Guayaquil, “Good afternoon everyone. On behalf of the Ecuadorean government, welcome to Ecuador! Have a nice stay and good luck for the competition.”
Ms Tina Trstenjak then spoke on behalf of the IJF Referee Commission, “Good afternoon, I am happy to be here in Guayaquil representing the IJF Referee Commission. After a successful event last week in Lima, Peru, we continue our work here at the cadet World Championships. We are proud to have a team of 12 referees, 3 supervisors and all 3 refereeing directors to ensure consistency and high quality refereeing.
We wish all judoka and coaches a successful event and a great experience in Ecuador. Thank you.”
IJF Sport Director Ms Hedvig Karakas conducted the draw itself, “Dear Vice Minister, dear President Verdugo, colleagues and judo family, we are ready to begin the draw for the 2026 World Championships Cadets, the most important event for our young generation. Thank you to our colleagues who have worked to make this draw successful.”
The draw for each of the 16 categories and the team competition were then completed and uploaded to JudoTV and the IJF website. Day one of the competition will begin at 10am local time and will include the 3 lightest men’s and 3 lightest women’s categories. Six cadet world champions will be crowns and all of the action can be followed on JudoTV.