XXXV FIAS Congress was held in Yerevan

A discussion of current issues in the development of world SAMBO by representatives of the FIAS national federations took place on November 10 in the premises of the Sports and Concert Complex named after Karen Demirchyan in the capital of Armenia – the city of Yerevan. The event, held in a hybrid format, was attended by delegates from 60 countries.

At the beginning of the meeting, the participants unanimously voted for the proposal to admit the national SAMBO federations of Iceland and Haiti to FIAS membership.

Then FIAS President Vasily Shestakov made a report. In his speech, he noted that the Congress is taking place on the eve of the celebration of the 85th anniversary of SAMBO. The head of FIAS informed the participants about the successfully held World SAMBO Championshipы 2022, the World Youth and Junior Championships 2023, as well as continental championships over the past period, noting that an Open championship among athletes with visual impairments was also held as part of the Asia and Oceania Championships.

“It should be noted that all continental championships were qualifying competitions for the SportAccord World Combat Games, which took place in October this year in Saudi Arabia,” Shestakov emphasized.

The continental championships were remembered by participants and spectators for the introduction of a new discipline – women's Combat SAMBO.

“We received positive feedback from specialists. I consider it necessary to include the discipline of women’s Combat SAMBO in the program of the continental championships and the world championships next year, especially since in 2025 at the World Games (IWGA) in Chengdu (China), women’s Combat SAMBO will be represented in the program in five weight categories,” emphasized leader of FIAS.

Vasily Shestakov informed the members of the governing body about the work done by FIAS over the past year.

“SAMBO returns to the big stage of the World Games, which will be held in Chengdu (China) in 2025. Another step forward was the inclusion of SAMBO as a demonstration sport in the program of the XIII African Games, which will be held in 2024 in Accra (Ghana),” added the head of FIAS.

Vasily Shestakov made an emphasis at the third World Beach Sambo Championships, held on September 9-10 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). He noted the successful experience of combining the World Beach Sambo Championships with the continental championships, which allowed to significantly increase the number of participating countries and athletes.

Separately, the FIAS leader spoke about the international tournament that took place in August in the capital of Armenia – the city of Yerevan.

“It’s very pleasant that new competitions are appearing on the FIAS calendar. At the first “International Sambo Tournament for the Prizes of the President of the Olympic Committee of Armenia,” athletes had the opportunity to earn serious prize money with their professional skills. We received numerous positive reviews from competition participants, as well as spectators around the world. I would like to make this tournament traditional,” Shestakov concluded.

In the final part, the FIAS President informed those present about the upcoming starts in 2024.

“Next year it is planned to hold SAMBO competitions in the program of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Thailand,” Shestakov emphasized.

The city of Astana (Kazakhstan), where the World Sambo Championships 2024 will be held, was determined as the venue for the next Congress by the decision of the delegates.