FIAS President Opens Jubilee World SAMBO Championships as a Record 101 Countries Compete in Tashkent

The 50th World SAMBO Championships got under way in Tashkent on November 6. Opening the event, FIAS President Vasily Shestakov welcomed the athletes and guests of the tournament. He named the scale of the championships as the main fact of his address: athletes from 101 countries will compete for medals, a record for the International SAMBO Federation.

Shestakov recalled how the sport’s flagship tournament began. Eleven countries took part in the first World SAMBO Championships in 1973. Since then, the number of participating countries has grown more than ninefold.

The FIAS President also noted the presence of SAMBO legends at the event: multiple world champions who have devoted their lives to the sport. He extended a special welcome to the SAMBO ambassadors, Fedor Emelianenko and Islam Makhachev, both world-famous stars of Combat SAMBO and mixed martial arts. According to the President, their example, drive to win and dedication to SAMBO inspire millions of people on every continent to choose the sport.

Equal opportunity was an important theme of the address. Shestakov stressed that FIAS has taken a significant step this year: for the first time in the Federation’s history, the World Championships program includes a competition in SAMBO for blind women. In the President’s words, this reflects FIAS’s commitment to the principles of inclusivity and the global development of sport.

Addressing the female athletes, he said they had earned the chance to step onto the mat at the main tournament of the FIAS calendar and show their best sporting qualities.

Concluding his remarks, the FIAS President wished the athletes good luck and bright victories and declared the 50th World SAMBO Championships open.