IKA terminates agreement with PKRA

[Toby]

IKA News:

IKA terminates agreement with PKRA due to material and persistent breaches
of contract

The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) regrets to announce that the contract between IKA and the Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) has been terminated. All World Championship rights for all kiteboarding disciplines including Freestyle, Big Air, Wave and Slalom immediately revert to IKA.

Neither PKRA nor its new ownership, currently known as Virgin Kitesurf World Championships, are able to conduct any further World Tour events after the conclusion of the event currently taking place in Tarifa.

Following the acquisition of PKRA by new ownership, PKRA changed the branding of its competition, and continued to conduct competition events under this brand, in material and persistent breach of the existing contract.

The IKA has attempted since September 2014 to reach agreement on a new contract that would enable PKRA to, among other items, conduct competition events under its desired branding. However despite these repeated attempts, PKRA failed to both rectify their consistent contract breaches or agree a new contract.

The IKA recently served PKRA a final formal remedy period of 28 days in which to rectify their consistent breaches of the existing contract. After receiving no response from PKRA that were capable to remedy the breaches, the IKA has no legal option but to terminate the contract.

IKA continued to attempt to negotiate the contract as it believes a successful agreement would have been in the best interest of riders internationally; by securing higher media coverage of events, greater prize money and an enhanced international profile for the sport.

Background
The extinct contract between IKA and PKRA stated that the PKRA was able to host events that count towards the IKA Kiteboarding World Rankings and IKA World Championship titles in individual disciplines.

Following the announcement made in August 2014 that new investors had purchased the PKRA and the PKRA wished to alter this agreement for events, the IKA in good faith continually attempted to negotiate a new contract with the PKRA to cover this development.

The new contract was necessary in order to recognize the new ownership, support the new ownership’s desire to secure exclusive rights to the World Championship Tour for existing disciplines such as freestyle, and support exclusive rights to additional disciplines such as wave, slalom, big air and the overall title.

A new contract would also have enhanced fairness, transparency and independent judging for riders, with the aim of avoiding conflicts of interest between tour owners, brands, judges and riders. Additionally, the new contract would have required improvements to the newly introduced PKRA scoring and qualification systems, which the IKA is aware have created significant dissatisfaction amongst riders.
Further, the new contract would also have ensured the tour’s successful rebranding as the “Virgin Kitesurf World Championships”.

The IKA is hopeful that all stakeholders can work positively together to achieve the best outcome for the sport. The organizers of the upcoming events, namely Fuerteventura and St. Peter Ording, have been contacted following this announcement.

The IKA assures riders that with the PKRA now not able to conduct World Tour events, the IKA will secure a seamless and continued world tour for all riders.

[Toby]

this sounds like a big problem for VKWC ?

Do they need IKA?

The IKA assures riders that with the PKRA now not able to conduct World Tour
events, the IKA will secure a seamless and continued world tour for all riders.

I don't get it...anyone?

[Tfcm]

Yeah taking legal action against a company backed with almost endless cash and resources sounds like a great idea!! I'm sure they will just do their own thing..

[vannibombonato]

Goodbye IKA...

[Toby]

Yeah taking legal action against a company backed with almost endless cash and resources sounds like a great idea!! I'm sure they will just do their own thing..

ISAF is also a big player...just wonder if they want to go against someone like the Sir...let the show begin!

I just wonder what happens now to the next two stops...Fuerteventura and Germany...
Fuerte needs it to be officially...Germany could work without...it is huge and actually no one would really care...

I think VKWC could call it world tour, but not crown a world champion....but a VKWC World Tour Champion. Should be fine too.

[JON MODICA]

When I started competing 14 years ago, this sport had a very succinct & respected set of world tour events.

This is embarrassing. The tour riders must feel terrible about this.

I'd love to know who is behind the IKA and why they made this decision. The press release did very little to specify why they pulled out.

Anyone know who are the players behind IKA and if we can get a statement?

-Jon

[Toby]

more info:

Future of Freestyle Kiteboard Tour Uncertain After Row Over World Championship Contract


Hang Loose Beach, Gizzeria—The future of freestyle kiteboarding’s sole world tour was shrouded in cloud of uncertainty today (SUN) after its contract to stage world championships was ended by the sport’s governing.
The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) terminated the agreement with the Professional Kite Riders Association (PKRA), and by extension the new owners Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC), in a late-night lawyer’s letter.
After months of fruitless discussions and wrangling over contracts with the secretive new owners of the world tour, which has so far staged three events in Morocco, Venezuela and Spain, the IKA pulled the plug and intends to oversee the running of the forthcoming two confirmed events in Fuerteventura, Spain, and St Peter Ording, Germany.
The IKA, a not-for-profit company, is sanctioned to award world championship titles by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) within its rules, under the umbrella of the International Olympic Committee.
It began working with the PKRA and issued it contracts to run world championship events and titles in 2009. But since September last year it has been in talks with the tour’s putative new owners of the tour to establish fresh contracts for world championship titles it sought to stage in freestyle, big air, slalom, wave and an overall title.
At the launch of the VKWC in January the tour’s owners said they would inject fresh capital and expertise to transform competition kiteboarding in order to earn the sport the recognition it deserved with big-money prizes, state-of-the-art media — both television and on-line — while promoting the riders as world-class athletes.
However, following a failure to reach a satisfactory agreement with the VKWC, sponsored by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin and Zed, a multinational founded by Javier Perez Dolset, who is also an investor in Best kiteboarding, the IKA executive moved on Saturday night.
The seismic decision also reflected disquiet among professional kiteboard riders and leading industry players like North Kiteboarding and Naish, alarmed that the sole freestyle world tour should be so closely linked with another brand, Best, a sponsor of many leading kite professionals.
One of the first priorities for the IKA at the upcoming event in Fuerteventura will to be to hold discussions with all the riders to gauge their dissatisfaction, or otherwise, with the new judging criteria which it believes was foisted on competitors with little consultation.
The IKA said that in its talks with the VKWC it consistently wished to establish strong guide lines and structures that would advance kiteboarding for the good of the sport and the riders.
“A new contract would have enhanced fairness, transparency and independent judging for riders, with the aim avoiding conflicts between the tour owners, brands, judges and riders,” said an IKA statement. “Additionally, the new contract would have required improvements to the newly introduced PKRA [VKWC] scoring and qualification systems, which the IKA is aware have created significant dissatisfaction amongst riders.”
But the IKA is adamant that under its planned new setup the standings from the three competitions so far will be recognised, even if a decision is ultimately taken to change the judging criteria. It may also mean that there will be qualifying for each event, rather than the just two qualification slots mooted by the VKWC.
“The main thing is that the riders can’t suffer from this,” said Markus Schwendtner, IKA CEO. “All the results so far this year will stand. But we will take over the contracts for Fuerteventura and St Peter Ording. The events will happen under us.”
Effort to seek a response from Alex Lorenz, the VKWC’s CEO, and Virgin failed to get a response.

[KiteboardingTampaBay]

IKA was a joke from Day 1, it's never been about anything but power and money and eliminating competition in big money events. Just glancing at this latest info, it's apparent that it's the same old crap- lawyers and late night letters from IKA threatening everyone. (I hope Markus at least kites now-LOL!) I have zero interest in competition and never have, but I do know "not for profits" (i.e. 501c3 charities) quite well and easily picked apart IKA from it's inception (in detail) going all the way back to the Speed Windsurfing Tour, where Markus took the money and ran from his own Board of Directors. I believe I posted the important quotes, dates, and sources from meeting minutes in the "ISAF-I Smell a Rat" thread from 2008.
In short, IKA and most early supporting (fabricated) National Organizations were created through Markus's web design company. He built a website and claimed to be a governing body, and there were several websites/ supporting orgs. created this way. It was sold to the public through many press releases and watersports oriented news aggregators declaring IKA the "Governing Body of Kiteboarding". Markus couldn't last more than a few minutes on this forum defending himself or his actions. That's exactly how they got started, along with intimidating existing Tour Operators with legal action, of course.
Lawyers have no place in our sport, and they're a SURE sure sign of a douchebag trying to seize power over something. Anyone using a lawyer against fellow kiters, is no kiter at all.

[edt]

yeah I think the previous article you quoted nailed it. kiters think that the vkwc now favors Best brand riders. That's a legitimate beef and worth stopping everything to try and fix it. Even if Best riders aren't favored in the contest, you think maybe they will feature best gear and best riders in every video

it's easy enough to fix just get the vkwc to divest itself from best, richard branson has plenty of money he didn't need to get someone who is a major investor of Best to be his co-sponsor when he bought out the pkra.

Let's wait and see what Richard has to say.

[JON MODICA]

The IKA claims dissatisfaction amongst riders..... yet I haven't heard of a tour rider currently complaining. I've only heard good things.....

Anyone??????