What Happened On The Eve Of The Pan-American SAMBO Championships In Mexico

Today, on July 21, the next scheduled Pan-American SAMBO Championships start in the Mexican city of Acapulco. The best sambists of the American continent will come out on the mat to compete for medals of the highest value. The spectators will be able to personally observe the course of fights and relish all the beauty of sport, combat and beach SAMBO.

This review of the FIAS website covers the events that preceded the start of the tournament.

Working Meeting of the Heads of American Delegations

The meeting of the heads and members of the American national SAMBO federations took place at the conference hall of the Hotel Amarea. The event was attended by representatives of 22 countries - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Saint Lucia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, the USA, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

At the meeting, the prospects of SAMBO development in the Americas were discussed. In the course of a lively discussion, presidents of the national federations exchanged their vision of the ways of propagating this sport on both American continents, attracting more and more athletes and spectators into the orbit of SAMBO, and agreed to join forces in order to achieve these common objectives.

At the conclusion of the meeting, President of SAMBO and Combat SAMBO Association of Mexico Antonio Ramirez Rebollar demonstrated to those present a set of medals to be given to the sambists who would make it to the medal stand.

Seminar for Referees

Within the framework of the Pan-American SAMBO Championships, the seminar for referees was held for the second time, lasting three days and being supervised by the FIAS referees. This year, following the results of the examinations, the participants of the seminar for the first time had the opportunity to obtain SAMBO Referee certificates of the international category that were eventually conferred on six representatives of the American continents. Deputy Senior Referee of the Pan-American SAMBO Championships Carlos Gomez presented certificates to two representatives of Colombia and the Dominican Republic, as well as to representatives of Mexico and Venezuela.

The FIAS Executive Director Sergei Tabakov gave a referee seminar on beach SAMBO on the threshold of the first competitions in this discipline in the history of the Americas. In the course of his instruction, Sergei Tabakov educated the participants about the features of the competitions and the subtleties of their regulations. He also demonstrated the uniform kits, in which the athletes would perform, and wished every success to all those present.

The Gala Dinner

The Organizing Committee of the Championships arranged a gala dinner for presidents, delegates, and representatives of national SAMBO federations with a view over the Kebrada Rock, the most famous landmark of Acapulco. Professional cliff jumpers dressed in clothes with the emblems of the Pan-American SAMBO Championships made 35-meter jumps into the water, stirring up unforgettable emotions in numerous spectators.