Sambo will return to the program of the Summer Universiade

At the Youth World Sambo Championship in Seoul, President of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) Vasily Shestakov, and Kim Yoon-suk, Secretary General of the 2015 Universiade, concluded a milestone agreement on inclusion of this sport in the programme of the World Student Games to be held in the South Korean Gwangju next summer.

It has not yet been decided whether Sambo will be presented as demonstration or as the official sport at the event.

According to Vasily Shestakov, “the main objective is the inclusion of Sambo in the programme of the Universiade as a compulsory  sport, as it was at the 2013 Games.

“The final decision will depend on several factors. First,  Universiade Organizing Committee should write a letter asking to include Sambo in the programme of the Gwangju Universiade as a compulsory  sport. Second, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) has to adopt this decision. And third is the finances.  We are ready to do our very best to make Sambo a part of the Universiade in South Korea”, – said FIAS President. He also added that Mr. Kim Yoon-suk for his part promised to support the federation on this matter:

“The Korean side will make every effort to ensure that all our plans are realized. We also count on the support of FISU. We believe that our  representative, Oleg Matytsin, who works there, will also support us.”

In addition, during the meeting with Vasily Shestakov, a question was raised about the prospects of inclusion of Sambo in the program of the Olympic Games.

“Now we are waiting for the address by Thomas Bach at the IOC Executive Board meeting in December. We will develop our program and development strategy depending on what points he will announce. It is expected that a number of timely statements will be issued there. Th future the sports which are not yet on the program of the Olympic Games will depend on those statements.

We are now negotiating with the Japanese side on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. We want Sambo to be included in the program as a demonstration sport. This work is under way. President of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov always speaks positively about Sambo development prospects and supports us on this issue. And we would like to thank him for this! And of course, our priority is to become full member of the Olympic family.”

The final decision on how Sambo will be presented in the program of the Gwangju Universiade, will be made in a week at the Congress of the International University Sports Federation, that will also be held in Seoul.