Multi European Games 2026: Niš ready to host three days of cadet, junior and senior taekwondo
European taekwondo returns to Serbia this week. From 11 to 13 September 2026 the Sports Hall “Čair” in Niš hosts the Multi European Games 2026, an event promoted by the European Taekwondo Union, organised by Taekwondo Club Asteriks and sanctioned by World Taekwondo, which has become one of the most recognisable appointments of the European calendar.
The tournament carries G1 ranking status for the senior division and E2 status for juniors and cadets, which means that everything decided on the mats in Niš will be reflected in the world and European rankings. Each of the three days belongs to a single age group: cadets open the programme on Friday 11 September, juniors follow on Saturday 12 and seniors close the tournament on Sunday 13, with competition starting at 09:00 every morning. Weigh-ins run from 10 to 12 September, always one day ahead of the respective division, and a random weigh-in is scheduled daily at 08:00, with the selected names published at 06:30 on the ETU documents page. Draw sheets and brackets are released the evening before each competition day, at 20:00, on the same platform.
Beyond ranking points, Niš offers something more immediate. The Multi European Games double as a qualification event: two quota places are on offer for the European Cadet Championships, four for juniors towards the European U21 Championships and four more in the senior division, reserved for athletes born between 2005 and 2009, the age window that makes them eligible for the U21 continental title. No more than two athletes per Member National Association can qualify directly, and unused quotas are not reallocated, so every bracket carries a double weight for the youngest competitors on the floor.
On the technical side, the organisers will use the Daedo International Generation 3 protector and scoring system with electronic headgear supplied by the organising committee, on World Taekwondo recognised mats, under the latest edition of the WT Competition Rules. All contests follow the best-of-three format, with three rounds of two minutes for seniors and three rounds of a minute and a half for juniors and cadets, and the WT Technical Delegate retains the authority to adjust contest time as needed. Seeding follows the last published WT World Ranking for seniors and the European Ranking for juniors and cadets.
Medals and certificates go to the first three placings in each of the fifty-six weight categories on the programme, while overall trophies reward the three best teams in each age group. With entries closed on 31 August, the field is set and the invitation the hosts have been repeating for months now has to be answered on the mats: don’t be a guest, be a winner.
The draw sheets and brackets will be daily published, one (1) day before the start of
competition at 20:00 hrs on the following (social) media platforms:
https://europetaekwondo.org/documents/
