Congress of the European Sambo Federation Was Held In Greece

On May 17, the summary Congress of the European Sambo Federation (ESF) took place in Athens, Greece. The event was attended by 11 members of the ESF Executive Committee, 29 members of national federations, and by a representative of one candidate member country.

The Congress considered issues regarding the report of the ESF Executive Committee for the year 2017, the discussion over the ESF schedule for international competitions for the period of 2018-2021, as well as the changes in the ESF membership.

At the very start of the meeting, the participants of the Congress observed a moment of silence commemorating the late ex-president of the Sambo Federation of Armenia Levon Ayrapetyan and Alexei Rybakov, referee of the international category who has died a sudden death recently.

The progress report was presented by President of the European and All-Russian Sambo Federations Sergey Eliseev. In his report, he reminded the audience that to date ESF comprises 36 national federations, with three more countries – Austria, Norway, and Sweden – having the status of its candidate members. Moreover, 20 countries have already received the recognition of the national Olympic committees, the last of which was Serbia.

In his report, the ESF President also drew special attention of the heads of federations to the pressing need to purchase sports insurance for all sambists participating in competitions. ‘These are not personal interests, but the lives of our athletes that are at stake,’ Eliseev concluded.

Touching on the topic of anti-doping measures, the ESF President has stated that the federation is paying special attention to this issue, noting that at the moment five athletes from Europe are suspended from participation in competitions.

Summing up, Sergey Eliseev extended his gratitude to the leadership of the Czech SAMBO Union, the Belarus SAMBO Federation, the Federation of SAMBO and Martial Arts of Madrid, the Spanish Federation of Olympic Wrestling and Associated Disciplines, the Croatian SAMBO Federation, and to the SAMBO Federation of Serbia, for the organization and staging of the competitions at a high level in the past 2017.

At the conclusion of the Congress, a discussion was held on the issue of the admission of the SAMBO Federation of Iceland as a candidate ESF member. The participants voted unanimously in favor of this decision.