More than 30 countries will take part in the World SAMBO Championships despite of the COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 World SAMBO Championships will be held in the city of Novi Sad (Serbia). The tournament will be combined with the Youth and Junior World Championships planned earlier in Serbia and will last four days – from 5 to 8 November.

More than 400 athletes from 30 countries are expected to take part in the main sporting event of the FIAS calendar, including Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Venezuela, Greece, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Colombia, Congo, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Russia, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia, USA, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Philippines, France, Croatia, Estonia, South Africa.

The competitions will be held in accordance with the FIAS Recommendations for Ensuring Safety and Prevention after the COVID-19 Pandemic, that is, taking into account the restrictions on the movement of athletes, in compliance with all safety measures and social distancing in the arena.

“The Organizing Committee of the World Championships has made every effort to minimize the risks of illness among athletes at the main event of the year in the FIAS calendar. For this, all participants in the competition – from athletes and coaches to referees and medical personnel – will be required to strictly follow safety rules. The first step is to take a PCR test for COVID-19 72 hours before arriving in the Republic of Serbia. The next one is the creation of a "clean zone" for all participants of the competition, excluding the appearance of strangers in it, that is, all movements in Serbia will take place exclusively between the hotel and the arena. Well, it is obvious that under these conditions the tournament will be held without spectators,” FIAS President Vasily Shestakov noted.

Nevertheless, everyone will be able to watch the World SAMBO Championships live thanks to the online broadcast on the FIAS website. The final matches of the World Championships will also be shown on "Eurosport" and other TV channels around the world.

The general partner of the World SAMBO Championships and the World Youth and Junior SAMBO Championships is Rosneft oil company.