FIAS presentation at the Congress of the International Sport Press Association in Innsbruck

The 75th Congress of the International Sport Press Association (AIPS) was held from January 12 to January 15 in the capital of the Winter Youth Olympic Games - Innsbruck, Austria.

This anniversary Congress was attended by delegates from more than 100 countries of the world. The Congress was opened by Austrian President Mr. Heinz Fischer. The opening ceremony was also attended by VIP guests - the Reigning Prince Albert II of Monaco and HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan.

Traditionally, the program of the Congress includes (in addition to the usual meetings) presentations of International Sport Federations and host cities of Olympic Games and Universiades. The forum of sports journalists in Innsbruck was an extraordinary event as the number of presentations reached 16.

This year, presentations were delivered by the International Olympic Committee, the future Olympic cities London and Sochi, and the organizers of the European Football Championship 2012. The Kazan Organizing Committee told about the coming Universiade 2013 and about the new project - the creation of international school of sports journalists.

Among the Sports Federations whose presentations were included in the program were FIFA, the European Handball Federation, and FIAS. We would like to remind that FIAS and AIPS have been partners since April 2011 when they signed a cooperation agreement after the SAMBO presentation at the 74th Congress of Sport Press in Seoul.

In Innsbruck all covered by snow, SAMBO was presented by Mr. Nikolay Dolgopolov, Vice President of AIPS and Chairman of the Press Commission of FIAS. He told about the work accomplished by FIAS last year and about the SAMBO innovations to be implemented in the near future.

Special attention was paid to the cooperation between FIAS and the European Broadcasting Union which enabled the broadcasting of World SAMBO Championship in Vilnius in 3 continents (Europe, Asia, and America).

The journalists - AIPS members were interested in the modern professional services provided to journalists in Lithuania. FIAS does its best to ensure increased journalist attendance at SAMBO competitions.

The journalists were acquainted with FIAS competition calendar for the year 2012. The key events of the year that many journalists would like to visit are the World Championship in Sofia (youth and juniors) and the World Championship in Minsk. Of course, we should also mention the four stages of the World Cup 2012 to be held in Russia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan. Another innovation is that following the results of the four stages FIAS will determine not only the three winners of the World Cup but also the nominees in the following categories: the best athletes (men and women), the best journalist and photograph covering SAMBO competitions. The nominees will be awarded with prize money awards and FIAS souvenirs.

The year 2012 has just begun, but we could not avoid talking about 2013. For the first time in history, SAMBO was included in the Universiade program; in Kazan, we will witness the first appearance of FIAS athletes in a global student competition. In October 2013, Russia, the birthplace of SAMBO, will host the 2nd Sport Accord World Combat Games (St. Petersburg) where SAMBO will be represented gathered with other 15 martial arts.

In this regard, both the presentation and the further sessions of the Congress paid great attention to the creation of a special AIPS SAMBO Commission. Its main tasks will be to strengthen the cooperation between the sporting journalists and FIAS and to increase the coverage of SAMBO competitions.

The interest in the FIAS presentation manifested by the journalists - AIPS members lets us hope that in the nearest SAMBO will be a sport familiar to everyone and popular with the media.

At the AIPS Congress closing ceremony, the flag of International Sporting Press Association was handed over to Sochi, the Russian city that will host the next international forum of sporting journalists of the world in April 2013.

We, SAMBO fans, hope that in Sochi FIAS will represent SAMBO already as a Federation temporarily recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Anyway, we are doing our best to make our cherished Olympic dream come true.

Photo by Sergey Donets