Degtyarev announced an increase in funding for SAMBO events

The amount of funding for SAMBO events within the framework of the unified calendar plan for 2026 has doubled. This was stated on February 10 by the Minister of Sports, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev at a meeting of the interdepartmental working group on sambo development.

"The Ministry of Sports <...> [in 2024] issued an order on the development of SAMBO in Russia as an Olympic sport. The company's development program has also been approved...> sambo until 2028. The amount of funds for events within the framework of the unified calendar plan [for 2026] has been doubled," he said.

Degtyarev recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed the importance of developing this sport. According to the minister, the result of state support was, among other things, the success of the Russian national team at the 2025 World Cup. At that time, Russian SAMBO wrestlers won 25 medals, 21 of which were gold.

In addition, the head of the Ministry of Sports said that the list of candidates for the national team for 2026 includes more than 500 athletes, and the Sambo to School program covers about 1 million students in 89 regions. He also called the admission of Russian SAMBO wrestlers to international competitions with the national anthem and national symbols an important achievement.

"Together we will move towards SAMBO being included in the Olympic Games program one day, which will be a fair decision. <...> We will give a powerful impetus to the development of this wonderful martial art and strengthen the spirit of the nation," Degtyarev concluded.

At the meeting, Rashid Nurgaliyev, First Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, also noted the importance of preserving sambo as part of the historical heritage, and Sergey Eliseev, President of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, said that more than 91,000 people were involved in this sport in 2025.

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On November 16 last year, Putin congratulated Russians on Sambo Day, noting the special role of this type of martial arts in the country's sports and social life. The Russian President stressed that SAMBO has been dynamically expanding its geography and audience in recent years: Russian athletes consistently achieve impressive results at major international tournaments, and the mass movement is supported by the development of the Sambo to School project.

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