William Millerson

William Millerson (10 January 1953 – 20 June 2020) was a Curaçaoan politician and Dutch karateka. He had an 8th Dan in karate, and was the winner of multiple European Karate Championships medals. Between 1998 and 2014 he was first vice-president of the World Karate Federation.

Early life and sports career Millerson was born on 10 January 1953 in Aruba. He was partially of Surinamese descent. Millerson became the President of the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee. The IOC refused to reconsider their decision, because it would set a precedent, and England wanted to compete separately from the United Kingdom. Since then athletes from the Antilles either have to compete stateless, for Aruba, who was recognized prior to the new rules, or for the Netherlands. however it is allowed to compete separately, because it is a member of the United Nations, thus meeting the definition of a sovereign state according to the International Olympic Committee. Millerson described the situation as the biggest blunder of the International Olympic Committee.

Millerson was one of the founders of the Caribbean Karate Federation and served as its chairman from 1998 to 2014. He was chairman of the Panamerican Karate Federation from 1993 to 2013. All 19 members present voted for him.

Millerson, suffering from cancer, resigned as president for health reasons on 3 June 2020, and was replaced by Ana-Maria Pauletta. On 4 June 2020, Millerson was hospitalized in the Netherlands. He told the Estates before leaving, "I'll be back,"