Russian athletes to fly colors of ROC flag at 2021 World Sambo Championship in Tashkent

MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. The team of Russian athletes will be participating in the 2021 World Sambo Championship in Uzbekistan under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), All-Russia Sambo Federation (ARSF) President Sergei Yeliseyev told TASS on Wednesday. The 2021 World Sambo Championship will be hosted by the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, between November 12 and 14. "Just like the rest of our [national sports] teams, we will be participating in the championship under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee," Yeliseyev said. "The First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Tchaikovsky instead of the national anthem will be played [for the Russian Sambo wrestlers," he stated. The World Sambo Championship was initially scheduled to be hosted by the Russian capital of Moscow between November 16 and 18, 2021. In mid-March the press service of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) announced to TASS that the 2021 World Sambo Championship was relocated to Uzbekistan’s Tashkent. Yeliseyev, who also serves as the president of the European Sambo Federation, said that he had high expectations in regard to the tournament despite the ongoing global novel coronavirus pandemic. "We have very good expectations regarding the tournament despite the pandemic and the championship is expected to be attended by about 60 participating countries," he said. Asked why an official statement from FIAS mentioned only 50 participating national teams at the upcoming championship, Yeliseyev said: "I believe that these are the teams, which have already arrived." "We hope that the number will increase to 60 [teams] and we will be enjoying a high competition level, just like we always did," the official added. Sambo wrestling originated in Russia in the 1920s, when soldiers of the then-Soviet Army developed their own hand-to-hand combat technique. The word Sambo is a Russian acronym, which stands for "self-defense without weapons." In November 2018, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued its official recognition for the Sambo wrestling as an Olympic competition. On July 20, 2021, the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) obtained full recognition of the IOC. The decision was made at the IOC Session in Tokyo, on the eve of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan. Sanctions against Russian sports On December 17, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland’s Lausanne partially upheld WADA’s (the World Anti-Doping Agency) previous ruling on a number of sanctions against Russian sports. Following the CAS decision, Russian athletes were deprived of their right to participate in all World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games under the national flag of Russia and to the tune of the national anthem for a two-year period. The ruling of the Swiss-based court also stripped Russia of the right to bid for the organization of all international sports tournaments for a period of two years. WADA’s sanctions will be in force until December 2022. Read more