# World Sambo Championships

The World Sambo Championships are the main championships in Sambo and Combat Sambo, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Sambo (FIAS).

## History

The first World Sambo Cup took place in 1977 in Oviedo, Spain. Two years later, the first Youth World Championships were held in Madrid, Spain.
In 1984, an assembly of the Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA), now known as the United World Wrestling, chose to create an independent federation for sambo, the Fédération Internationale de Sambo (FIAS). On 13 June 1984, a constitutive General Assembly of the FIAS was held in Madrid, in which delegates from 56 countries took part. Fernando Compte was elected the first president of FIAS.
The first championships for women was held in 1984 in Madrid, Spain.

## Timeline

* The International Association of the public union the “European Sambo Federation” was established in 1991 and officially registered in 2005. The European sambo federation (ESF) is a member of International Sambo Federation (FIAS).
* In 2007 SAMBO was presented at the First European Games in Ukraine.
* In 2010 SAMBO was included in the SportAccord World Combat Games which were held in Beijing (China).
* In 2012 at the report-electing congress of the European sambo federation Dr. Sergey Eliseev, the president of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, was re-elected for the position of the ESF president for the next period.
* In 2012 the European SAMBO championship among cadets (15–16 years, boys and girls) was organised for the first time in Tallinn.
* In 2013 SAMBO was included in the official program of the 27th Summer Universiade, the World Students Games in Kazan (Russia) and also into the Asian Games.
* In 2014 SAMBO was included into the program of the European Games.
* In 2015 First European Games were held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The same year European SAMBO Cup was included in the ESF Calendar.
* In 2016 First World University SAMBO Championships under the banner of FISU was held in Nicosia, Cyprus.
* 2017 - World SAMBO Championships were held in Sochi, Russia. A record number of 490 athletes from 90 countries were competing for the titles of World Champions.
* In 2018 Orel (Russia) hosted for the first time the World Schools SAMBO Championships under the auspices of the International School Sports Federation (ISF). Athletes from 21 countries took part in the competition.
* 2019 - II European Games were held in Minsk.
* Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, Montenegro and Serbia hosted many sambo championships during these years.

## Events

1996 to 2020 weight classes:
| Men | 48 kg | 52 kg | 56 kg | 60 kg | 64 kg | 68 kg | 72 kg | 80 kg | +80 kg |
| Women | 52 kg | 57 kg | 62 kg | 68 kg | 74 kg | 82 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg | +100 kg |
Since 2021 reduce to 7 weight.

## Senior Championships

Women's World Championships was held for the first time in 1984. In 1993 FIAS splits into 2 organisations FIAS East (Russian control) and FIAS West (USA and Western European control) until 2005. In 2005 FILA reaches an agreement with FIAS West and re-assumes sanctioning over SAMBO but in 2008 FILA again discontinues sanctioning sambo. In 2014 FIAS and FILA sign a cooperative agreement:
| Edition | Year | Host City | Host Country | Events | Nations |
| Organized by Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) ||||||
| 1 | 1973 | Tehran | Iran | 10 | 11 |
| 2 | 1974 | Ulan Bator | Mongolia | 10 | 5 |
| 3 | 1975 | Minsk | Soviet Union | 10 | 8 |
| 4 | 1979 | Madrid | Spain | 10 | 11 |
| 5 | 1980 | Madrid | Spain | 10 | 11 |
| 6 | 1981 | Madrid | Spain | 10 | 12 |
| 7 | 1982 | Paris | France | 10 | 11 |
| 8 | 1983 | Kyiv | Soviet Union | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | 1984 | Madrid | Spain | 10+W | 10 |
| Organized by Fédération Internationale de Amateur Sambo (FIAS) ||||||
| 10 | 1985 | San Sebastián | Spain | 10+W | 11 |
| 11 | 1986 | Saint-Jean-de-Luz | France | 10+W | 8 |
| 12 | 1987 | Milan | Italy | 10+W | 9 |
| 13 | 1988 | Montreal | Canada | 10+W | 11 |
| 14 | 1989 | West Orange | United States | 10+W | 9 |
| 15 | 1990 | Moscow | Soviet Union | 10+W | 18 |
| Organized by FIAS and FMS ||||||
| 16 | 1991 | Montreal / Chambéry | Canada / France | 10+10+W | 8 |
| 17 | 1992 | Herne Bay / Minsk | England / Belarus | 10+10+W | 14 |
| 18 | 1993 | Kstovo / Omsk | Russia / Russia | 10+W | 28 |
| Organized by FIAS East and FIAS West ||||||
| 19 | 1994 | Novi Sad / Montreal | Serbia / Canada | 10+10+W | 20 |
| 20 | 1995 | Sofia / | Bulgaria / | 9+10+W | 23 |
| 21 | 1996 | Tokyo / | Japan / | 18+West | 23 |
| 22 | 1997 | Tbilisi / | Georgia / | 18+West | 20 |
| 23 | 1998 | Kaliningrad / | Russia / | 18+West | 20 |
| 24 | 1999 | Gijón / | Spain / | 18+West | 20 |
| 25 | 2000 | Kyiv / | Ukraine / | 18+West | 21 |
| 26 | 2001 | Krasnoyarsk / | Russia / | 18+West | 26 |
| 27 | 2002 | Panama City / | Panama / | 18+West | 19 |
| 28 | 2003 | Alpes-Maritimes (C) Saint Petersburg (S) | France (C) Russia (S) (West) | 27+West | 32 |
| 29 | 2004 | Prague (C) Chișinău (S) | Czech Republic (C) Moldova (S) (West) | 27+West | 23 |
| 30 | 2005 | Prague (C) Astana (S) | Czech Republic (C) Kazakhstan (S) (West) | 27+West | 27 |
| Organized by Fédération Internationale de Amateur Sambo (FIAS) ||||||
| 31 | 2006 | Tashkent (C) Sofia (S) | Uzbekistan (C) Bulgaria (S) | 27 | 33 |
| Edition | Year | Host City | Host Country | Events | Nations |
| 32 | 2007 | Prague | Czech Republic | 27 | 43 |
| 33 | 2008 | Saint Petersburg | Russia | 27 | 48 |
| 34 | 2009 | Thessaloniki | Greece | 27 | 46 |
| 35 | 2010 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 27 | 26 |
| 36 | 2011 | Vilnius | Lithuania | 27 | 65 |
| 37 | 2012 | Minsk | Belarus | 27 | 64 |
| 38 | 2013 | Saint Petersburg | Russia | 27 | 70 |
| 39 | 2014 | Narita | Japan | 27 | 82 |
| 40 | 2015 | Casablanca | Morocco | 27 | 80 |
| 41 | 2016 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 27 | 77 |
| 42 | 2017 | Sochi | Russia | 27 | 90 |
| 43 | 2018 | Bucharest | Romania | 27 | 80 |
| 44 | 2019 | Cheongju | South Korea | 27 | 50 |
| 45 | 2020 | Novi Sad | Serbia | 27 | 30 |
| 46 | 2021 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 21 | |
| 47 | 2022 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 21 | |
| 48 | 2023 | Yerevan | Armenia | 21 | |
| 49 | 2024 | Astana | Kazakhstan | 31 | |
| 50 | 2025 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan | 31 | |
Note: C = Combat Sambo / S = Sport Sambo / W = Women Events

## Other championships

* Juniors: Since 1979:
* Youth: Since 1996:
* Cadet: Unknown.
* Masters: Unknown.
* Students / University: Since 2003:
** 2016 – 1st WORLD UNIVERSITY SAMBO CHAMPIONSHIPS (M&W, TEAMS)
* Schools: Since 2018:
** Inaugural World Schools Championships in 2018.
* Deaf: Since 2017.
** First international deaf Sambo tournament held in 2017 but is not world championship.
* Beach: Since 2021.
* Military: Since 2018.