XXIII Congress of the International Amateur Sambo Federation

On the eve of the World SAMBO Championships Vilnius hosted a regular XXIII Congress of the International Amateur Sambo Federation. The Congress delegates listened to the report by the FIAS President Vasily Shestakov. The President informed them of the work, carried out by the Federation in the past two years in order to meet the IOC requirements for joining Olympic family. He outlined priority goals that sambo family will be facing already in the nearest future. "I am convinced that the Olympic heights which the FIAS has to conquer, large and complex tasks which we have to solve require quite another level of work, competency and responsibility. I think we all are ready for it", said Mr. Shestakov at the end of his presentation. The Congress delegates unanimously approved the FIAS membership requests by 12 new federations; now sambo family unites 78 members. In Asia they were Afghanistan, Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Taiwan and Thailand. Europe introduced Croatia, Africa - Senegal and Niger, South America - Argentine and Chili. It was the president of the Sambo Federation of Argentina Mr. Juan Pablo Melo who was elected as a new head of the Pan-American Sambo Federation with the full support of the Congress. The most important decision of the Congress was the approval of the new Regulations for organization and holding of the FIAS official competitions. The updated Regulations is precisely the document which would change the model of holding sambo tournaments and provide impetus for improving the quality of SAMBO competitions' organization. Suggestions for organization of the SAMBO World Cup events and category "A" tournaments were submitted for the Congress consideration by the President of the European Sambo Federation Mr. Sergey Eliseev. The First Vice-President of the FIAS Mr. Andrey Klyamko presented the financial report. "Professionals have gathered here, the people who know and understand SAMBO. And I am convinced that we all know that in order to reach the high goals, which were set got us, we have "roll our sleeves us" and work… and then work more", said the First Vice President at the end of his report. Another decision approved unanimously was to change the name of the Federation to "International SAMBO Federation", removing the word "amateur" from it, like other international federations have already done. However, it has been decided to retain the abbreviation, the FIAS, as an already recognizable brand. The Congress is over and tomorrow the XXXV World SAMBO Championships will begin at the "Siemens-Arena" in Vilnius under the auspice of the Federation with a new name: the "International SAMBO Federation".