XXVII Congress of the International Sambo Federation in Casablanca

A meeting of the Congress of the International Sambo Federation was held at the Hôtel le Littoral today, November 12, before the start of the World Sambo Championship in Casablanca tomorrow.  Read our report from Morocco on its top stories.

New FIAS members

Delegates to the FIAS Congress voted in favor of new FIAS members. Macedonia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Peru joined the ranks of the International Sambo Federation. Thus, the international Sambo family will become even larger after the meeting of the FIAS Congress in Morocco.

FIAS President Vasily Shestakov – a report on the work completed during the year

In his report, Vasily Shestakov highlighted the major successes of the International Sambo Federation, which FIAS achieved during the year in close and productive cooperation with national Sambo federations that are FIAS members. He mentioned the organizational success of the youth and masters championships this year, which were held in Riga, Latvia and Ashdod, Israel, respectively. Shestakov also talked about the effective cooperation between FIAS and WADA and TAFISA, and success in social projects and relations between FIAS and the IOC. He also noted the active efforts of the International Sambo Federation and the Cyprus Sambo Federation in preparation for the first ever World Sambo Championship among students, which will take place in Cyprus next year.

FIAS First Vice-President Andrey Klyamko – financial statement

Andrey Klyamko presented Congress delegates with the auditor's report, which, as in the past five years, a Swiss audit firm has conducted for FIAS. He also reported on the budget for 2015 and informed all delegates of the estimated expenses of the International Sambo Federation for 2016.

FIAS Vice-President Sergey Eliseev – calendar, rating and International Sambo Day 2016

Sergey Eliseev announced that in a short time, starting on January 1, 2016, to be exact, the Sambo world would start a new life under sports rating laws. The rating will consider international tournaments, the World Cup, the World Cup among students, and youth and adult World Championships. Eliseev also reported on the FIAS sports calendar for 2016 – 2018, which was approved by a vote of Congress delegates. To date, 2 countries have entered bids to hold the World Sambo Championship 2016: Bulgaria and the United States. The decision on which country will host the main Sambo start next year will be made by December 5. The World Sambo Championship will be held in Sochi, Russia in 2017, in Milan, Italy in 2018; and Seoul, Korea has made a bid to hold the World Sambo Championship in 2019. Youth World Championships will be held in Bucharest, Romania in 2016, in Serbia in 2017, and in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2018. Cyprus will host the World Championship among students in 2016, along with the World Championship among cadets, and Serbia will host these two championships in 2018. The World Sambo Championship among Masters has been "slated" for Poreč, Croatia in 2016, the US in 2017, and Casablanca, Morocco in 2018. Eliseev also proposed that starting in 2016, International Sambo Day would be celebrated around the world on November 16 with children's Sambo competitions and festivals, which all federations would include in their schedules.

Dalil Scalli awarded a FIAS gold badge for his contribution to promoting Sambo in the world

In closing the Congress, FIAS President Vasily Shestakov awarded FIAS Vice-President Dalil Scalli a gold badge of the International Sambo Federation for his contribution to promoting Sambo in Africa and the world. Shestakov expressed confidence that the World Sambo Championship starting tomorrow would be one of the best in the history of this event.