Dushanbe to Host 2026 World SAMBO Cup

Dushanbe will host the World SAMBO Cup 2026 on 19-20 September. For two days, the Tajik capital will become the stage for three disciplines – Sport SAMBO, Combat SAMBO and Blind SAMBO – with competitions held for both men and women.

National teams from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Honduras, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and a number of other countries are expected to compete for medals at the tournament.

“SAMBO continues its confident growth and expansion around the world. Year after year, new countries from different continents join our big SAMBO family. We take particular pride in the development of SAMBO among blind and visually impaired athletes: their courage and determination command deep respect, and the inclusion of this discipline in the World Cup program in Dushanbe shows that SAMBO is open to everyone ready to fight and win,” said FIAS President Vasily Shestakov.

A special place in the tournament program belongs to Blind SAMBO competitions in the SVI1 sport class. FIAS has been actively developing this discipline in recent years: in the summer of 2025, the federation received recognition from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), joining just fifteen sports organizations worldwide to hold this status. This recognition highlighted FIAS's systematic work in developing adaptive SAMBO and gave the discipline additional momentum toward possible future inclusion in the Paralympic Games program. In Dushanbe, SVI1 athletes will compete in weight categories of 64, 79 and 98 kg for men and 50 and 59 kg for women.

The tournament will also feature the traditional Sport SAMBO competitions (men: 58, 64, 71, 79, 88, 98, +98 kg; women: 50, 54, 59, 65, 72, 80, +80 kg) and Combat SAMBO in the same weight categories for both men and women.

The World SAMBO Cup in Dushanbe will take place for the second time, making it one of the key stops on the 2026 international SAMBO calendar. A year ago, the Tajik capital demonstrated its capabilities in hosting a major tournament, and it is now preparing to once again confirm its status as an active hub for the sport's development in Central Asia.

The tournament will be broadcast live on the video portal www.sambo.live