In the rhythm of SAMBO: the World Cup will bring together a record number of countries and return the flag and anthem to Russia

The 50th anniversary World Sambo Championship starts in Uzbekistan at the end of the week. In three days, representatives of 101 countries will perform at the tournament, a record number in the history of the competition. For the first time in five years, Russian athletes will be able to compete for medals under the national flag and with the national anthem. In addition, the championship program will be supplemented with a new discipline that will bring SAMBO closer to inclusion in the Paralympic Games.

Record-breaking World Championship

A total of 33 sets of medals will be awarded at the upcoming World Championships. The competition program includes three disciplines for men and women — sports sambo, combat sambo and sambo for the blind. International Federation (FIAS) Back in October, she announced that the prize fund of the world championship would be $363 thousand — $4 thousand for a gold medal, $3 thousand for silver and $2 thousand for bronze.

According to FIAS President Vasily Shestakov, sambo is increasingly gaining popularity as one of the most dynamic sports.

— Sambo is the hallmark of Russian and Soviet sports, as a type of martial arts invented in our country, but it is being practiced more and more not only in post—Soviet countries, - said Shestakov. — Sambo is one of the most dynamic and versatile types of martial arts, which is gaining popularity among young people in a huge number of countries. Due to this, we expanded the geography of our sport. When I assumed the post of president of FIAS in 2009, the national teams of 30 countries participated in the World Cup, and now we have reached the mark of 101 countries.

The head of world sambo especially emphasized the influence of the megastars of mixed martial arts MMA on the popularization of this sport. Celebrities such as Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev began their sports careers in SAMBO.

Emelianenko became the world champion in combat sambo four times. Undefeated UFC bantamweight champion Khabib has won the World Championship twice in this discipline. In 2016, this title was awarded to the current UFC champion Islam Makhachev.

Emelianenko and Makhachev have always emphasized the influence of sambo on their achievements in MMA. It is no coincidence that they were invited to play the role of SAMBO ambassadors. In this capacity, on November 5, they participated in a press conference in Tashkent leading up to the World Championship. They were joined by Vasily Shestakov, Minister of Sports of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov, First Deputy Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan Otabek Umarov, President of the Asian Sambo Association Alamjon Mullaev and President of the Sambo Association of Uzbekistan Alisher Alimov.

— I think combat sambo gave me a key foundation in becoming a fighter, — said Islam Makhachev. — I traveled a lot to training camps, grew up as a fighter, working with many other famous fighters. I believe that a person should always be able to stand up for himself. And the best sport in this regard is sambo, self—defense without weapons.

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Our athletes will once again compete at a major international tournament with the strongest squad and under their own flag.

Sambo on the way to the Paralympics

For the first time, women's sambo for the blind will be a discipline at this World Championship. A year ago, men's sambo for the blind appeared for the first time at the World Championships in Bishkek. It is no coincidence that in 2025 SAMBO was recognized as a sport by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Back in the 2010s, one of FIAS' main projects was to achieve recognition of sambo as an Olympic sport and its inclusion in the program of the Summer Olympic Games. In November 2018, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) temporarily recognized SAMBO. And in 2021, he issued a full recognition.

So far, this does not mean joining the program of the Games. But work in this direction continues to be carried out. As is the case with the Paralympic Games.

— We applied for entry into the program of the Paralympic Games, the IPC made several comments to us that had to be eliminated, — Vasily Shestakov explained to Izvestia. — I hope that after these comments are eliminated, we will have a chance to participate, perhaps even in the 2032 Games in Brisbane. There's still a lot of time before that. The main comment to us was the lack of competition among blind women. Now they have appeared, including in the framework of the World Cup. And we have eliminated this gap.

Russia returns flag and anthem

Sambo was one of the few sports in which, after February 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes avoided total sanctions and continued to compete in major competitions. Nevertheless, FIAS was forced to strip them of their symbols.

After three years of playing in a neutral status, both teams began to return to performing under their own flags and anthems. The first such major tournament was held in the spring by the European Sambo Federation, which is about the continental championship in Tbilisi.

Then, in the fall, FIAS was able to organize the World Youth Championship, where Russians and Belarusians performed without restrictions. In early October, the championship gathered a record number of participants. Moreover, it took place in Thessaloniki, Greece — a rare case in the last five years when a major competition was held in a European country, at which the flags of Russia and Belarus were raised during the award ceremony, as well as the anthems of both countries were played.

Vasily Shestakov stressed that the choice of Tashkent as the organizer of the adult World Cup was dictated, among other things, by the fact that the leadership of Uzbekistan would not have hindered the participation of all interested countries without any restrictions. However, the fact that there are very big traditions in SAMBO in the republic also played a role. Uzbeks are constantly among the leaders of the overall standings of the world Championships. And they are among the favorites at the upcoming home championship.

— Tashkent has already organized the World Cup very well twice, so we were glad to entrust it with this mission again, — said Shestakov. — Besides, given the current situation, we don't have much choice, although there are also applications from Singapore and the Philippines for hosting the World Cup. But the important thing is that it is essential for us to avoid discrimination against representatives of certain countries. We are now seeing what is happening with the Russian national ice hockey teams, whose federation has won an appeal to the CAS against the non-admission of their teams to the World Championships. But now there are threats of boycott from other countries, threats of non-issuance of visas to our hockey players and almost refusal to hold competitions on their territories if Russia is there. We are doing everything to prevent this from happening. And we choose the countries whose authorities guarantee us the equal participation of all. It's great that we managed to host the World Youth Championship in Greece, and Uzbekistan has been a reliable partner for FIAS regarding the adult World Cup.

The World Sambo Championship in Tashkent will be held from November 6 to 8.