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The 2025 World SAMBO Championships will bring together the world’s top practitioners across the three main disciplines: Sport SAMBO (for men and women), Combat SAMBO (for men and women), and Blind SAMBO (only for men, with SVI1 visual impairment). Historically, the long-running tradition of such events hasn’t only been crowning the world champions in each weight and discipline, but it also plays a central role in determining athlete rankings, national standings, and global recognition within the sport’s community. As the highest-level tournament, the 2025 World SAMBO Championships are sanctioned by the International SAMBO Federation (Fédération Internationale de SAMBO – FIAS).

The 2025 World SAMBO Championships will take place from November 6 to November 10, 2025, in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Where Will the 2025 World SAMBO Championships Be Held?

As with all major SAMBO tournaments, given the nature of SAMBO competition, it requires an indoor mat environment, i.e., an indoor sports facility. However, the venue in Bishkek (i.e., hall name) hasn’t been disclosed publicly yet. That might be because, initially, the 2025 event was planned for Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, but was later switched to Bishkek.

The published regulations don’t state a precise total number of athletes or national delegations for 2025. We can make educated guesses or bounds based on past editions and the structure: in previous editions, many dozens of national federations sent delegations. The field typically includes competitors from perhaps 50+ countries (or more), given the global reach of SAMBO.

What the documentation does provide are the weight categories contested:

• Sport SAMBO — men (seven weight classes: 58 kg, 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg, and +98 kg), women (seven classes: 50 kg, 54 kg, 59 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg, 80 kg, and +80 kg)
• Combat SAMBO — men (same seven as for Sport SAMBO), women (same seven as for Sport SAMBO)
• Blind SAMBO — men (SVI1 class) with three weight categories (64, 79, and 98 kg)

The total prize fund for the 2025 World SAMBO Championships is US$341,000. The prize money distribution is equal across disciplines (Sport, Combat, Blind) in the participating categories, as per the regulations. Breakdown for each medalist:

• Gold – US$4,000
• Silver – US$3,000
• Bronze – US$2,000 (for each bronze medalist)

Which Practitioners Will Take Part in the 2025 World SAMBO Championships?

Athletes from national SAMBO federations who meet eligibility criteria (age, nationality, anti-doping, etc.) may enter the relevant disciplines in the weight categories defined by FIAS. (This is standard practice per FIAS rules.) For Blind SAMBO (for visually impaired athletes), the discipline that will debut on the international scene, there’s a classification and a limited program (men’s SVI1) included in the overall World SAMBO Championships regulations.

In terms of scale, local Kyrgyz news notes that more than 500 athletes from 55 countries will participate. The regulation document doesn’t provide a finalized list of countries or delegations for 2025 yet. A fully detailed public “qualification tournament list” or “quota per continent” in the main public regulation summary isn’t included anywhere.

So in short, qualified athletes from member national federations, in the disciplines and weight classes approved by FIAS, will compete.

Features of the 2025 World SAMBO Championships

Even though the regulation announcement says the 2025 World SAMBO Championships run from November 6 to 10, 2025, the FIAS event listing shows November 7 to 9, 2025, for the combined Sport SAMBO + Combat SAMBO portion. So, the 2025 World SAMBO Championships seem to encompass one combined tournament period; there’s no indication in the public regulation or announcements that the tournament is broken into multiple “stages.”

The competition systems rely on distribution into groups (i.e., the sole stage, the pool/group stage) combined with elimination. In Sport SAMBO, this is followed by repechage for athletes eliminated by the finalists. In Combat SAMBO, by rule, the system is similarly “distribution into groups and elimination” but without repechage. The draw (pairings) is done via FIAS’s electronic system, taking into account international rankings.

SAMBO bouts are typically single bouts decided by points, submission, or superior technique, not a multi-round “best-of” type. According to older/standard SAMBO rules (Sport & Combat), a single bout is contested in a continuous time period. In Sport SAMBO, the standard senior match duration is five minutes. If there’s a repechage, the same bout format is applied (i.e., one single match).

So, from the 2025 regulation announcement and the existing FIAS/SAMBO rules, the match format & elimination system are as follows:

Who’ll Win the 2025 World SAMBO Championships?

Several athletes and nations stand out in SAMBO based on past performance, continental and world events: Russian athletes are traditionally very strong in SAMBO and often dominate in both Sport and Combat SAMBO categories. Kseniia Zadvornova (Russia) is a notable female sambist: she was a 2023 World SAMBO champion and 2024 European champion in her weight class (72 kg) for Combat SAMBO.

In men’s SAMBO, top Russian athletes (especially in heavier categories) are often among the top contenders. In recent years, Russian, Belarusian, Georgian, and Central Asian countries (especially Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) have been strong in the SAMBO world and continental events. For example, Mikhail Kashurnikov (Russian sambist) is cited as a world and European champion (in Combat SAMBO) in his weight class (+98 kg).

We didn’t find a definitive “odds” for the event in Bishkek, but likely favorites will come from Russia (and allied strong SAMBO federations) across multiple weight classes. It’s possible that after the tournament date draws nearer or once the organizers publish the official match schedule, some sportsbooks may add markets for SAMBO (especially in regions with more interest). Niche or specialty sportsbooks (especially those that cover “combat sports/martial arts”, such as the best MMA sites) are more likely to list SAMBO markets than mainstream bookies.

Up until 2020, many editions used nine weight categories per gender rather than seven. In 2021, FIAS revised the weight divisions to reduce them to seven weight classes for men and women. The 2024 edition introduced women’s Combat SAMBO at the World Championships level (i.e., it was the first time women’s Combat SAMBO featured in the World SAMBO Championships) and also added Blind SAMBO (SVI-1 class) as a medal event.

Historically, Russia (and former Soviet states) has dominated the medal tables in both Sport SAMBO and Combat SAMBO across many editions. In 2019, the World Championships (in Korea) were reported to be shown live on TV in 68 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, with some states having two–three broadcasters. FIAS has placed emphasis on streaming: more recent championships have had live or online broadcasts through the FIAS/SAMBO platforms (e.g., sambo.live). For example, the 2024 edition was streamed online via sambo.live.

Based on the pattern and current broadcasting infrastructure, here are likely options (with supporting evidence) for watching the 2025 World SAMBO Championships:

• FIAS/SAMBO “Live broadcast” page
  The FIAS website maintains a “Live broadcast” section listing current and past events streamed. The 2025 World SAMBO Championships will likely be streamed via that portal.
• SAMBO Live (sambo.live)
  This is an existing streaming platform used for SAMBO events (e.g., the 2024 World SAMBO Championships were streamed there). Thus, 2025 matches are likely to be broadcast via sambo.live.
• FIAS YouTube/official channels
  FIAS has an official YouTube channel where they upload events, matches, highlights, and live streams. So some (or all) matches might be available live or as replays there.
• Television/regional sports networks
  Given historical precedent (e.g., 2019 coverage in 68 countries), some regional or national broadcasters in participating countries may acquire air rights to the championships live or delayed. Which channels will carry it depends on deals struck in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Central Asia, Europe, etc.

General Pros (Main Strengths) and Cons (Challenges) of the 2025 World SAMBO Championships Favorites