Conditions for the selection of SAMBO athletes to participate in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu

Combat SAMBO competitions will be held as part of the World Games, which will take place from August 7 to 17, 2025 in Chengdu, People's Republic of China. Medals will be played in 5 weight categories among men, 5 among women, and one set of medals in a tournament among mixed teams. The selection of athletes to participate in the Games will be based on the results of sambists at international competitions in 2024.

The Combat SAMBO tournament at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu will be held in the following weight categories:

Combat SAMBO (men): 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg

Combat SAMBO (women): 54 kg, 59 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg, 80 kg

Mixed teams (Combat SAMBO): W-54 kg, M-64 kg, W-59 kg, M-71 kg, W-65 kg, M-79 kg, W-72 kg, M-88 kg, W-80 kg, M-98 kg

Participant selection criteria:

Europe: 2 representatives in each weight with the highest ranking among European sambists based on the results of 2024.

Asia and Oceania: 2 representatives in each weight with the highest ranking among sambists in Asia and Oceania based on the results of 2024.

Africa: 1 representative in each weight with the highest ranking among African sambists based on the results of 2024.

Pan-America: 1 representative in each weight with the highest ranking among Pan-America sambists based on the results of 2024.

China: 1 representative in each weight as a representative of the host country of the competition.

Wild Card: 1st place in each weight category - is played by draw among candidates based on applications from sambo national federations that were not included in the number of participants in the Games based on the results of the Rank selection.

List of international ranking tournaments in 2024:

1. World Championship (Kazakhstan).

2. World Cups (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan).

3. Continental Championships.

Rules for calculating rating points

1. Scoring occurs throughout the calendar year.

2. The athlete’s 4 best results for the current year are counted.

3. The rating is calculated separately for each weight category (points are not transferred from weight to weight).

4. When an athlete changes citizenship during a calendar year, he loses all points scored and starts from 0.

Conditions for receiving rating points

SAMBO will present itself in Chengdu as the only new sport compared to the Games in Birmingham, USA in 2022. Recall that FIAS became a member of the IWGA in 2021. 

Previously, SAMBO was already part of the official program of the World Games in London (Great Britain) in 1985 and in Hague (Netherlands) in 1993.

2025 World Games is the 12th edition of the World Games, which includes sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. It is expected to be held from August 7 to 17, 2025, in Chengdu, China. 

This is the first edition to be held under the guidelines set by the strategy paper "Growth Beyond Excellence", the second edition to be held in Asia, and the first time for the nation to host the World Games.