"Islam Makhachev has been popularizing SAMBO for a long time"

Sambo is one of the few sports where in 2022 there was no suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions. For three and a half years, they performed in a neutral status, but at the end of last year, the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) returned their flag and anthem to them. In the spring, the symbols of both countries were already present at the European Championship in Tbilisi, and in the fall they should appear at the youth World Cup in Thessaloniki and the adult World Cup in Tashkent.

In an interview with Izvestia, FIAS President Vasily Shestakov told how Russia's return to the international arena is taking place, how he expects this type of martial arts to enter the Olympic program, what role UFC champion Islam Makhachev plays in popularizing it, and why it is important to include sambo in the program of the World War Games.

— In mid-August, you held the first International SAMBO Tournament among military personnel in Moscow. How far has this advanced the work of including your sport in the program of the World War Games?

— To be precise, the tournament was hosted by CSKA, and the International Sambo Federation and the International Council of Military Sports (CISM) assisted in its holding, as the competitions were held in sports SAMBO among military personnel. Let me remind you that FIAS consists of national SAMBO federations from 140 countries from almost all continents, including Australia and Oceania. And we participate in almost all major multi-sport competitions, with the possible exception of the Olympic Games and the World Military Games. That is, today FIAS is recognized by the IOC, and on an ongoing basis, but unfortunately, SAMBO has not yet been included in the program of the Games — it is not easy to do this, since there is great competition among sports, and politics has an impact on the situation.

As for cooperation with CISM, we have been negotiating with them for a long time about holding the World Sambo Championship among military personnel and including our sport in the program of the World Military Games. But so far, for various reasons, it has not been possible to organize joint competitions.

— Have you succeeded now?

— Yes, now the situation has finally changed, and we can already say that the ice has broken. We sent our representatives to the CISM congresses several times, and then we were told that we needed to hold two so—called "challenges" - these are essentially the same world SAMBO championships among military personnel, but they have not yet been officially recognized, that is, they do not have the appropriate status. Our task was to show at what level we can conduct them and how close and interesting our sport is to military personnel all over the world.

In fact, this was the moment of truth: if military SAMBO wrestlers come to us, then CISM will consider our continued participation in events. As a result, we held the first such tournament in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.

— Are CISM satisfied with the organization?

— I can say that, contrary to the famous Russian proverb "the first pancake is lumpy", everything turned out very well for us — representatives from 18 countries came, almost 100 athletes took part in the competitions. At the same time, SAMBO wrestlers came from four continents — South America, Africa, Asia and Europe. And this is despite the difficult political situation around the world. I have already received feedback from the CISM management, and I can say that they were pleasantly surprised by the organization of the competition and the number of participants.

— When are you planning to hold the second such competition?

— To date, we have preliminary agreements with representatives of Kazakhstan that they will host the same challenge in their country next year. I think the representation of the countries will be the same as it is now in Moscow, and maybe even more. And after that, our sport has every chance and reason to be included in the program of the official starts of the main CISM events.

Melee: Russia triumphed at the World Sambo Championships

20 medals provided our team with a confident victory in the team competition.

— When do you expect SAMBO to be presented at the World War Games for the first time, if everything goes well?

— Since the upcoming CISM Games are scheduled for 2027, unfortunately, we do not have time to physically get into them. But we will strive hard to enter the program of the next World Games. In any case, today we can say that we have managed to take the first big step by signing up for the tournament held in Moscow. I think this is a very big breakthrough for our sport, when representatives of almost two dozen countries came to us, took part in the tournament, and there were no restrictions regarding the national flag and anthem.

I would like to note separately that Russian and Belarusian SAMBO wrestlers already compete under the national flag at all international SAMBO competitions, but it is important that this event was held on the territory of Russia. This is the first swallow of its kind. I think that further in other sports, having seen the precedent with SAMBO, they will also begin to lift restrictions on holding international competitions.

— Did FIAS manage to get in touch with the new IOC President Kirsty Coventry and her entourage, to find out their position on the inclusion of SAMBO in the Olympic Games program?

— We are in constant contact with the IOC leadership, especially often we interact with the Sports Department and its director. With regard to the inclusion of SAMBO in the Olympic Games program, our position is well known to both the new President of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, and the former, Thomas Bach. I had a personal conversation with him at the time, which turned out to be very productive. As you know, FIAS was able to achieve permanent recognition from the Committee. By the way, our arguments were quite weighty, and we were able to demonstrate the rapid development of SAMBO all over the world. Despite the fact that sambo can be considered a fairly young sport by sports standards — it will be 90 years old in 2028 — the truly active development began in 1984, when the International Sambo Federation was established. It was from this moment on that the holding of various international competitions became regular and acquired a large-scale character.

— What is it expressed in?

— If earlier athletes from about 20 countries came to us at the World Championships, now teams from 70, 80 and even 90 countries come to the World Championships, even in the current international situation, as it was in Sochi in 2017. In addition, it is important to note that SAMBO has returned to the program of the World Games (multi—sport competitions in sports not included in the program of the Olympic Games - Ed.), which were held last year in Chengdu, China. This is a truly great success and a high level of recognition.

Besides, sambo is the most versatile of all types of martial arts. With the technical arsenal of SAMBO, you can win competitions in other sports. This, for example, can be regularly observed in mixed martial arts, where Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who started their careers in SAMBO, and now Islam Makhachev and Vadim Nemkov are at the top. Besides, our sport is very dynamic, and it's getting more spectacular every year. And the audience's interest is increasing. In particular, thanks to the media, as well as the presence of such figures as Fedor, Khabib, Vadim and Islam. Moreover, Islam popularized our sport in his social networks a long time ago, even before we offered him to become a SAMBO ambassador in the world. Against the background of his recent successes, the support of such an outstanding athlete is especially important. So we are growing and developing. And I intend to tell the IOC President about all this in order to convince her to continue promoting SAMBO in the Olympic program.