The European Championships, that were scheduled for the end of November in Ekaterinburg, are cancelled due to the complications of the coronavirus pandemic, says Sergey Eliseev, President of the European Sambo Federation, to RIA News and ITAR-TASS.
The competitions were initially scheduled for the May 2020 in Ekaterinburg but due to the pandemic it was moved to the November 27-29 window.
“It was a joint decision with the European Championships Organizing Committee in Ekaterinburg to cancel the 2020 competitions due to the increasing complications caused by the pandemic in the city, Russia and the rest of the world, — says Mr. Eliseev in his phone interview. — There will be no European Championships this year. Many European countries decided to not send their athletes to any competitions this year. In addition to that, according to the infomation from World Health Organization, the pandemic situation is getting worse every day”.
Earlier this Monday, Sergey Eliseev informed TASS that the new location for the European Championships will be decided during the European Sambo Federation Congress.
“The European Championships in 2021 are scheduled to be held in Italy. But the complication with that is that we are not completely sure that the Italian government will allow it to happen. If we will receive a decline then we will conduct this tournament in Ekaterinburg. We also accept the possibility of holding the 2022 Championship in Ekaterinburg”, — says Mr. Eliseev.