The possibility of organizing this competition was discussed on April 20 at a meeting on the promotion of SAMBO for the blind and visually impaired at the international level.
The event was attended by Vice-President of FIAS, President of the All-Russian and European SAMBO Federations Sergey Eliseev, Head of the FIAS President’s Office Alexander Korsik, Executive Director of FIAS Sergey Tabakov and member of the FIAS Commission for Athletes with Disabilities (Blind and Visually Impaired) Roman Novikov.
“We have all the regulatory framework for organizing an official international SAMBO start for the blind and visually impaired. Thanks to this, we can take part in international competitions as an independent discipline of the sport of SAMBO, along with Sport and Combat SAMBO,” Roman Novikov said.
According to him, the holding of the first International SAMBO Tournament for the Blind and Visually Impaired under the auspices of FIAS will be an important step forward in the development of this direction.
“It is important to note that nothing needs to be re-equipped for the wrestling of blind and visually impaired sambists, competitions among the blind and visually impaired are held on the same mats as those of sighted sambists,”- a member of the FIAS Commission on Athletes with Disabilities noted.
The meeting participants supported the idea of organizing these competitions. The final decision on holding the International SAMBO Tournament for the Blind and Visually Impaired should be made at a meeting of the FIAS Executive Committee.