The World Karate Federation (WKF) confirmed the competition, which is due to conclude on Sunday (January 29), has attracted its highest-ever number of participants after the registration process was completed.

The figure represents an increase on the 1,049 athletes who were registered to compete at last year’s World Championships in Linz.

The competitors span a total of 79 countries and will be the first to take part under the revamped Karate1 Premier League format.

In order to attract greater viewing figures worldwide, all finals and bronze medal bouts will be held on a Sunday and will be broadcast on television networks across the globe, as well as on the new Karate1 Premier League pay-per-view channel.

Fans can watch the event live on the dedicated channel for a fee of €10 (£8.50/$11).

WKF President Antonio Espinós told insidethegames that the event in Paris is "crucial" to the sport’s plans of developing itself worldwide as it moves towards its Olympic debut.

The WKF announced back in 2015 that all Karate1 Premier League events would be staged over three days from this year instead of the previous two-day format.

The decision was made to "accommodate the increasing number of competitors to be registered in Karate1 Premier League", the WKF said.

Several other changes have also been made, including that athletes must have competed at 60 per cent of the Karate1 Premier League competitions and in two continents to be eligible to be crowned grand winners at the end of the season.

The WKF claim they have made an effort to improve the quality of sport presentation at the events by ensuring they only select first-class competition venues, which include a unified design and layout, and by increasing promotional activities to grow crowds.

This year’s Karate1 Premier League campaign has taken on extra importance as it will offer athletes the chance to secure vital world ranking points, which will assist them in attempting to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Karate was added to the Tokyo 2020 programme last year alongside baseball and softball, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.

Other cities due to host events in the League this year are Rotterdam in The Netherlands, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Rabat in Morocco, and Halle and Leipzig in Germany.

The Karate1 Premier League pay-per-view channel is available here.