Roman Novikov, right, led the discussions to adjust rules for sambo for the blind and visually impaired ©FIAS

Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) leaders, led by chairman for the Athletes with Disabilities Commission Roman Novikov, partnered with the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) to create rules and classify the visually impaired competitors into groups.

The classification into groups was made to minimise the impact of the loss in performance, so that sportsmanship determines which athlete or team wins.

The level of impairment will be the deciding factor in placing the athletes into their groups and if they are eligible enough to compete.

Vasily Shestakov, President of FIAS, sent his regards to RPC President Pavel Rozhkov and the President of the RPC Commission on medicine, anti-doping and functional classification of athletes Guzel Idrisova for their assistance in improving the rules for the blind and visually impaired athletes.

The FIAS aims to develop sambo for blind and visually impaired athletes to have it included in the Paralympic Games ©FIAS
The FIAS aims to develop sambo for blind and visually impaired athletes to have it included in the Paralympic Games ©FIAS

The FIAS is targeting to develop the sport well enough for it to be included in the the Paralympic Games.

They were set to host the first ever international tournament for the blind and visually impaired in Moscow, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tournament was cancelled, along with any other sports events in Russia and its ally Belarus.

The FIAS gained recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2021, which meant that the International Federation had to follow their guidelines pertaining to Russia and Belarus.