Tashkent to host 2021 Sambo World Championship

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The 2021 World Sambo World Championship, scheduled for November in the Russian capital of Moscow has been relocated to Uzbekistan’s Tashkent, the press service of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) told TASS on Wednesday. The World Sambo Championship was initially scheduled to be hosted by the Russian capital of Moscow between November 16 and 18, 2021. "The Executive Board of FIAS has agreed to confirm Tashkent as a venue to host the World Championship on November 11-15," according to the press service. On March 16, the All-Russia Sambo Federation (ARSF) President Sergei Yeliseyev turned to the International Sambo Federation and the municipal authorities of Moscow with a request to reschedule this year’s World Sambo Championship for the year of 2025. 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." Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in 2016, speaking about Sambo wrestling and its global perspectives, that the Russia-originated wrestling should be included in the Olympic program, but it would require a lengthy and labor-consuming period. In November 2018, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued its official recognition for the Sambo wrestling as an Olympic competition, which can help the sport to officially enter the Olympic program of wrestling competitions in the future and to secure a financial assistance on behalf of the global Olympic body. Read more