"We were told that it was impossible": the head of FIAS on the recognition of SAMBO by the IOC, attitude towards MMA and the prospects of Emelianenko

- How is SAMBO coping with the coronavirus pandemic?

- Life goes on, nothing ends. Athletes want to perform and prove themselves. Sport is a short-lived process, after some time they will no longer be able to show results, this must be done here and now. Therefore, we try to hold competitions, but with some certain restrictions, with PCR tests before weighing in, without spectators and with a social distance. It is desirable that the majority have vaccinations, although it is not our task to control them. Thank God, so far we have not had cases of mass diseases at competitions, and even isolated ones. In particular, we held the World Championship in Serbia: only 35 teams came, because many countries simply did not let their athletes go. But the tournament was held at a high level, was well covered by the press, the total audience was 20 million people. The main thing,that there was not a single sick person.

- When should we expect SAMBO in the Olympic Games program?

- Sambo made a very big step towards getting into the Olympic program, without this step it was impossible to talk about any prospects.

We first received temporary recognition, then permanent.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I was not present at this, we participated online.

After SAMBO was recognized by the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach congratulated us on this event.

We were also accepted into the World Games by a majority of votes.

There we will already participate in competitions.

We received such a powerful instrument as the recognition of the IOC, without which it would be impossible to talk about the Olympic Games at all.

Now, together with the IOC Sports Department, the Russian Olympic Committee, and the SAMBO community, we will build a roadmap.

Of course, given the fact that the program of the Games in Paris is already closed, we will have to work on the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Everyone tells us that this is impossible, but the same speeches were made about the recognition of the IOC, and these were the highest sports officials.

When a person wants to do something, he works, and if he doesn't want to, he always blames politics.

We will not speculate further, but we hope that sooner or later SAMBO will become an Olympic sport, because today it is one of the most interesting, dynamic and technically equipped sports.

This is said not only by us, but also by sports journalists who first covered SAMBO at the European Games in 2015.

Even then, those who first encountered SAMBO admitted that they like the sport more than other types of martial arts.

- Aren't you afraid that the IOC may act with sambo in the same way as with karate: first introduce the sport into its program, and then immediately exclude it?

- Anything is possible in life, we must treat everything philosophically.

They can turn it on, they can turn it off, as it was already at the Asian Games.

But all the same, there is no need to stop, we need to go forward and strive for SAMBO to become a permanent participant in the Olympic Games.

It was correctly noted that spectators vote by visiting gyms.

If they do not understand the competition, they do not understand the fights, like in karate, where you can fall, but be the winner, then people will not go.

This does not happen in SAMBO.

We try to make the rules clear and accessible to the viewer. In beach sambo, they generally made them similar to those in sumo. We did not expect that the ordinary world championship in a stripped-down composition would gather such an audience. This suggests that sambo is interesting to watch. It also helps that our great athletes Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Sergey Kharitonov practiced sambo and then used it in MMA. People are immediately interested. Representatives of Curacao came to one of our competitions, and they said that they learned about SAMBO thanks to Emelianenko.

International federations cannot agree among themselves, they are pulling the blanket over themselves.

Taekwondo had the same problem, but its representatives were able to convey to the IOC that their sport should be present, and they were preserved.

There were similar problems in the classic wrestling, because it is not so spectacular, but they change the rules.

If we were a winter sport, we would be carried in our arms, and so we have to face huge competition.

We go our own way.

We have male and female sambo, combat, beach sambo.

The latter has become very popular all over the world, because it is very democratic, for it only a rope in the sand is needed.

Africa, Latin America, the Baltics are actively interested in him.

Next weekend we will host the first world championship in Cyprus.

So far, few countries come, but the road will be mastered by the one walking.

- The IOC does not want to include MMA in the program because of its cruelty. Don't you think that SAMBO has an advantage in this regard?

- We have combat sambo and we clearly understand that it is a red rag for the IOC. But we comply with all the requirements for gender equality, the development of social programs, and assistance to poor countries. Our ambassadors are Fedor Emelianenko, Maria Gedes, Laura Fournier. Work is underway, and in many respects we are ahead of other types of martial arts. In classical wrestling, for example, there are no women at all, and freestyle is not always impressive. And there is women's SAMBO, it looks beautiful and dynamic. MMA, by the way, is not a sport at all, it is an organization that recruited athletes from different disciplines. This is a show that cannot be judged as a sport. Our Ministry of Sports has recognized it, but in my understanding, sport is when there are children's groups, juniors, and adult athletes. Now it is similar to how gladiators with different profiles gathered in Rome and found outwhich one is better.

- Do you have any thoughts on how to increase the number of tournaments and increase the awareness of sambists in the world?

Perhaps, to make some analogue of the World Cup?

- At the next FIAS Executive Committee, we will consider the issue of increasing the number of competitions.

We are planning several commercial tournaments so that athletes earn money and they have an interest.

It all comes down to finances.

We will revive the Kharlampiev Memorial, there used to be a strong tournament in Venezuela, we are negotiating about it.

We want to make competitions for which only exceptional, best athletes in the world can be selected according to the rating, so that they have an incentive to travel and compete, like in other sports.

The same applies to beach sambo, in which athletes can compete at least every week.

- On October 23, Fedor Emelianenko may have his last fight and end his career.

Have you ever thought about including him in the leadership of the federation or even suggesting him for the post of head of the organization?

- I really respect Fedor, he is a famous wrestler, I still remember how he began his career in the late 1990s.

This is a wonderful person whom I know well.

But every time he says that this is his last fight, I know that it is not.

Of course, we would be glad to see him in the leadership of the federation.

Emelianenko already represents us as an ambassador, but he also has enough things to do, his own organization - the Union of Mixed Martial Arts MMA of Russia.

I do not know if he will be ready to be torn into two fronts.

In any case, so far we have not had such a conversation.

- What are your plans for the

FIAS

President's Cup

, which took place last weekend

?

- This tournament will be held only in St. Petersburg, because it is the heir to the tournament in memory of Ivan Vasiliev.

Both our athletes and foreigners come here with pleasure.

In other cities, it will be much more difficult to organize something at such a high level.

In addition, I would like to secure the competition for Peter as a sign of respect.

It was here that many talented athletes performed during the Soviet years, who won the first championships of the USSR.

Moreover, many of them later became famous people.

- Do you plan to expand the tournament program?

- Let's see, everything depends on finances.

At the World Championships, we have 27 categories, each with its own prize fund, plus organization and accommodation.

This is decent money.

Now I would like to look at the results of the test tournament and organize similar women's competitions.

Combat sambo will be the last thing for us, because it has other prospects.

If sports sambo fights for inclusion in the Olympic Games program, then combat sambo fights for recognition in MMA.

We are thinking about different options.

I like it when there is a constant schedule of competitions and attachment to the audience.

- After the constant recognition by the IOC, did the sponsors become interested in the sport?

And are investments capable of influencing the further development of SAMBO?

- Yes, it is getting easier, because before we had incomprehensible prospects, no one knew what would happen to us.

Now people understand that we are already on the verge of being included in the program.

Basically, we are sponsored by those who did sambo themselves or were close to following this path.

Our general sponsor Rosneft, in principle, supports sports, with him we have come all the way from scratch and shared today's success, and recently we have another official partner - VTB Bank.

Perhaps, as popularity grows, other "big fish" will appear.

- You were Vladimir Putin's sparring partner.

What is he like on the carpet?

- He is a very versatile person, now he is fond of alpine skiing and hockey. We all started together with SAMBO, because there was no judo before. He was technically competent, tactically correct the formation of the fight. The main thing is that he had tremendous willpower, as an athlete should have. All of this was present enough. Putin performed in competitions, showed good results, but at some stage he decided that he would study at the Faculty of Law. Sambo and judo may have lost a great athlete, but the country has found a great president. By the way, Putin is the honorary president of the International Sambo Federation.