MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. National wrestlers representing Russia and Belarus will participate in the 2023 European Sambo Championship in Israel later this month under a neutral status and flying the FIAS flag, the press office of the international Sambo Federation (FIAS) said in a statement on Thursday.
"The Israeli city of Haifa will host two major continental SAMBO tournaments from 19 to 23 April. Men and women, juniors, youth, as well as cadets will compete for the title of the strongest SAMBO athletes in Europe," the statement reads.
"Teams from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia will take part in the competition," the statement continued.
"Russian, Belarusian and French athletes will take part in the competitions under the flag of the International SAMBO Federation in accordance with the decision of the FIAS Executive Committee," the statement from FIAS added.
At its session on January 25, 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments but only under certain conditions.
Athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President Stanislav Pozdnyakov called these recommendations absolutely unacceptable as they would lead to a split in Russian sports. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the IOC’s recommendations as discriminatory.
"We have decided to hold two main continental tournaments simultaneously this year - the European Sambo Championships and the European Cadets, Youth and Junior Sambo Championships," the statement reads.
"This practice proved its effectiveness last year, when continental competitions were held in the Serbian city of Novi Sad. Being on the same arena with more experienced sambists, young athletes will be able to quickly adapt to the future transition to senior teams," the FIAS added in its statement.
Sambo wrestling
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 sport should be included in the Olympic program, but it would require a lengthy and labor-intensive period.