FEVEJUDO — Federación Venezolana de Judo

What is FEVEJUDO?

The Federación Venezolana de Judo (FEVEJUDO) is the national federation for judo in Venezuela. Its own site states: “La Federación Venezolana de Judo (FEVEJUDO) es el organismo rector del judo en Venezuela”, and describes its task as promoting, organising and regulating the sport nationally and representing the country before the International Judo Federation and the Pan American confederation.^[1] Its home page adds that the federation “trabaja por el desarrollo del deporte a nivel nacional, formando atletas, dirigentes, arbitros y clubes en todo el país”.^[2]

The International Judo Federation lists the “Federacion Venezolana de Judo” on its Venezuela page, with Katiuska Santaella as president.^[3] The Comité Olímpico Venezolano (COV) lists it among the “Federaciones inscritas en el Comité Olímpico Venezolano”, under the same president.^[5] Its legal form follows from the 2011 sports law, which defines national federations as “entidades de derecho privado para la promoción y desarrollo del deporte y la actividad física con alcance y carácter nacional” (Article 48).^[6]

What does FEVEJUDO govern or do?

The federation’s site gives its role as to promote, organise and regulate judo at national level and to represent the country before the IJF and the Pan American confederation.^[1] It publishes a national ranking “por categoría y peso”, a competition calendar, results and a directory of the national team arranged by weight category.^[2][9]

Article 49 of the Ley Orgánica de Deporte, Actividad Física y Educación Física (2011) sets out the attributions of every national federation: to direct, coordinate and supervise the sporting activity within its competence; to issue the technical and ethical norms of its discipline; to exercise disciplinary authority under the law; to train human talent; to organise and direct the competitions of its speciality; to recognise and proclaim the members of national teams; to adopt its statutes and regulations; and to account publicly for its funds.^[6]

Internationally, Venezuelan judoka compete under the rules of the IJF, which governs the sport worldwide; the IJF’s Venezuela page lists 98 men and 80 women from Venezuela as senior World Circuit contestants.^[3]

When was FEVEJUDO founded and where is it based?

The federation’s history page states: “El 4 de octubre de 1957 se alcanzó un hito institucional con la creación de la Federación Venezolana de Judo y Jiu-Jitsu”, and names León Simonet as its first president.^[1] It now uses the name Federación Venezolana de Judo, and calls itself FEVEJUDO.^[1]

The same page places the start of judo in the country earlier: “La historia del judo en Venezuela se remonta a 1929, cuando el maestro Seijiro Yazawa Iwai […] llegó al país”. It names Unión Venezuela, founded in Caracas in 1952, as “el primer club de judo en registrarse oficialmente en el país”.^[1] These dates are the federation’s own account.

The IJF gives the federation’s address as Avenida Páez, El Paraíso, Caracas, postcode 1020.^[3] The current board, as the federation lists it, is Katiuska Santaella (president), German Contreras (vice-president), Javier Cardozo (secretary general), Simon Guanipa (treasurer) and Beagni Betancourt (member).^[1]

How is FEVEJUDO recognised?

IJF. The International Judo Federation’s Venezuela page lists the Federacion Venezolana de Judo as the national federation, with its president, address and an “Estimated Judoka” figure.^[3]

Panamerican Judo Confederation. The IJF’s page headed “Panamerican Judo Confederation Members (37)” includes “Venezuela (VEN) Federacion Venezolana de Judo”.^[4]

Comité Olímpico Venezolano. The COV lists the Federación Venezolana de Judo among the federations “inscritas” — registered — with it, giving Katiuska Santaella as president and the handle @fevejudo.oficial.^[5]

Venezuelan law. Under Article 48 of the 2011 sports law, the constitution and operation of a national federation must first be authorised by the board of the Instituto Nacional de Deportes; Article 51 defines the COV as the private, not-for-profit body that promotes the Olympic movement’s values and technical rules in the Republic.^[6]

What does FEVEJUDO organise?

National teams. The federation’s news reports trace the national selections through the 2026 season. On 17 June 2026 it reported that the senior national team had travelled to Argentina for the Open Panamericano Senior Buenos Aires 2026 (18–21 June) and an international training camp (22–23 June), “como parte fundamental de la preparación hacia los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe Santo Domingo 2026” — the Central American and Caribbean Games.^[7] On 10 June 2026 it reported that the national kata team was travelling to Paraguay for the South American Championship.^[8]

Domestic structure. The federation publishes a national ranking by category and weight, a calendar and a results section,^[2] and keeps a national-team directory organised by the women’s and men’s weight categories.^[9] Under Article 49 of the 2011 sports law, organising the competitions of the discipline and proclaiming the national teams are among the attributions of each national federation.^[6] A news item of 19 April 2026 in its index reports Venezuelan medals at the Pan American championship in Panama — the confederation’s Pan American Judo Championships.^[8]

Who are its members?

Under the 2011 sports law, national federations “están constituidas por los integrantes de las asociaciones deportivas estadales indicadas en esta Ley”, and only exceptionally, with the prior authorisation of the Instituto Nacional de Deportes, directly by the members of clubs (Article 48). The law defines state associations as “entidades deportivas de derecho privado, integradas por los clubes para la promoción de una disciplina deportiva” (Article 44).^[6] The federation’s site links an “Asociaciones y federación” panel for its member associations.^[9]

For the size of the sport, the IJF’s Venezuela page gives an “Estimated Judoka” figure of 13,000 and counts 98 men (56%) and 80 women (44%) among Venezuela’s senior World Circuit contestants (October 2026).^[3] The federation’s history names the clubs that built the sport in the 1950s, from Unión Venezuela (1952) to the club of the Universidad Central de Venezuela (1958).^[1]