Kassis is also the head of the Australian Karate Federation (AKF) while Coates leads the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

The meeting was also attended by the AKF's general secretary, Hani Zahra.

During the meeting, Kassis and Coates discussed the potential future for karate following its addition to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme.

New initiatives such as International World Karate Day, which will be held on June 17 in German city Munich, were also discussed. 

Kassis took the opportunity to express gratitude to Coates for his assistance and support towards the AKF and the sport. 

The AKF was formed in 1970 and their first national team participated at the inaugural World Karate Championships, which were held in Japan that year.

Australia failed to win any medals at the most recent Karate World Championships held in Linz in Austria in October. 

The meeting took place after it emerged a record-breaking number of athletes are set to compete at the 2017 edition of the Karate1 Premier League event in Paris.

The competition, set to take place in the French capital between January 27 and 29, already has 1,096 competitors from 77 nations registered.

The figure far exceeds the tally for last year’s tournament at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium sports hall, where 911 karatekas from 72 countries competed.

More than 300 clubs are signed up to participate along with 133 coaches from 86 countries and 150 referees. 

The WKF is also expecting the venue to be full to capacity during the three days of competition.

Paris is the first of nine Premier League meetings to be held this year.