Elective Congress of the International SAMBO Federation Held in Bishkek

On November 7, the 37th Elective Congress of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS) took place in Bishkek as part of the 2025 World SAMBO Championships. The key agenda items included the election of the new Executive Board and the admission of new members.

Delegates voted to welcome five new national federations to the organization: the SAMBO Associations of Nigeria, Togo, the Maldives, the Central African SAMBO Federation, and the SAMBO Union of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Congress also approved the renewed composition of the FIAS Executive Board. The members include Vasily Shestakov, Sergey Eliseev (Russia), Dalil Skalli (Morocco), Alamjon Mullaev (Uzbekistan), Eliseo Romero (Dominican Republic), Mariya Oryashkova (Bulgaria), Jeremiah Ying Ka (Hong Kong), Laure Fournier (United Kingdom), Mikayel Hayrapetyan (Armenia), Francois Mbassi (Cameroon), Merampi Iliadis (Greece), Seongcheon Mun (Republic of Korea), Aziz Ibraev (Kyrgyzstan), Ivan Egorov (Russia), Vadim Rogach (Ukraine), Mikhail Kozitskiy (USA), and Sydney Sy (Philippines).

It was also decided that the eighteenth member of the Executive Board will be a representative of the FIAS Athletes with Disabilities Commission, to be determined following the election of that commission.

As a result of the voting, Sergey Eliseev retained his position as First Vice President of FIAS, while Roberto Ferraris and Vladimir Yaprintsev were elected Honorary Members of the Committee. The city of Samarkand (Uzbekistan) was confirmed as the venue for the next Congress, scheduled for 2026.

In his annual report, FIAS President Vasily Shestakov summarized the organization’s progress over the past year, highlighting the significant advancement of SAMBO on the international stage. Among the key achievements, he noted the successful debut of Combat SAMBO in the program of The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, the official recognition of FIAS by the International Paralympic Committee, and the inclusion of SAMBO in the calendar of the International Military Sports Council (CISM). He also emphasized the growing popularity of the discipline on social media and the successful organization of tournaments across all continents.

Following the Congress, the newly elected Executive Board held its first meeting. Upon the proposal of Vasily Shestakov, FIAS CEO Alexander KORSIK was appointed Acting Secretary General. The meeting also approved the composition of the FIAS Commissions for the next four years.