"We are delighted to inform you that the IOC Executive Board met today and it will present a recommendation to grant full recognition of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS) to the IOC Session at its meeting on 20-21 July in Tokyo (Japan)", states the message. "We would like to warmly congratulate you on this achievement, which acknowledges the work and accomplishments in terms of institutional development and the promotion and progress of your sport and its related aspects".

The receipt of this letter was preceded by a long and thorny pathway that FIAS went along. Relying in our activities on the values and ideals of the Olympic Movement, we were totally engaged in the promotion of our sport across the world. For more than five years to date, FIAS has been implementing numerous projects aimed at sustainable development of the environment. One of such projects contributes to the conservation of Amur tigers. Also, our organisation pays appreciable attention to gender-equality issues, in facilitating the development of women's sports. As a result of these activities, the number of female athletes participating in sambo competitions increased. It is gratifying to note that the positive growth has been maintained over the past years. 

It has been three years since FIAS was granted the provisional IOC recognition. During this time, we partook in major multi-sport tournaments and learned how to stage competitions during the period of epidemiological restrictions.

Thus, in 2019, sambo was included in the second European Games held in Minsk, Belarus. Despite of the unprecedented global conditions of the year 2020 resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, we succeeded in carrying out the key tournaments of the year: World Championships and World Youth Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, A. Kharlampiev Memorial World Cup in Moscow, Russia. The competitions took place in the sanitary safety bubble where every participant from athletes and coaches to referees and medical personnel had to strictly follow safety regulations. Following such a successful experience in holding competitions during the lockdown, in 2021 we have staged the World Cup and two major continental tournaments - the European and Asian Championships, with those of the Pan-American and African and other international competitions being afoot.

And we keep on setting new goals for ourselves. The principal challenge for our sport this year will be the staging of the first-ever World Beach Sambo Championships that are going to take place on the final days of summer, August 28 and 29, in Larnaca in Cyprus. Athletes representing five continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Pan-America and Australia, are expected to take part in the tournament and will attract special attention. Due to the traditionally hot weather in Cyprus at the end of August, the competition is planned to be held at night time, to create a vibrant sports show with dynamic lighting to attract both professional sports fans and casual tourists visiting the beach. The live webcast of the first-ever Beach Sambo World Championships will be available on the FIAS official website.

We wish sambo to become a truly popular sport, and we value every chance to increase our visibility in the international sports arena. This year, an important event took place - FIAS re-joined the International World Games Association (IWGA). Previously, sambo was already included in the official programs of the 1985 World Games in London, Britain, and the 1993 World Games in The Hague in The Netherlands, but later, quite unfortunately, our membership in the organisation was cancelled. Today, the inclusion of FIAS in the IWGA is a great success for our organisation and a big step forward for the entire world sambo community.

Yet, the greatest step is still ahead. And we do hope that July 21 2021 - the day of making a decision on our full membership at the IOC Session - will become a veritable celebration day for the sambo community around the world.