 In the early 1990s, Nishiyama's refusal to align his ITKF organization with the World Union of Karate-Do Organizations (WUKO) caused the International Olympic Committee to suspend its recognition of WUKO as amateur karate's international governing body.The ITKF and WUKO had been due to merge and form a unified karate organization, but this did not eventuate.The WUKO eventually became the World Union of Karate-Do Federations in late 2008.