Multisport Association of Russia

News: The results of the meeting on the settlement of the conflict between FIAS and FILA

A number of agreements have been reached as a result of several rounds of the negotiations between the FIAS and the FILA delegations at the convention Sport Accord, held in hotel Intercontinental in Seoul (South Korea). Sportcom.ru has found out that the first meeting on working out the ways of the further interaction will take place after April, 20. It will be a meeting of the heads of the two organizations. The president of the FILA, Rafael Martinetti, will arrive in Moscow.

The first meeting on the settling the conflict, which was reported earlier about by Sportcom.ru, was conducted on April, 4 during the commission of GAISF members representing the federations of sport combat. The meeting was presided by GAISF president Hein Verbrüggen who appealed to the parts to enter into negotiations. The parts of the conflict expressed the necessity of defining the advisability and forms of the interaction between the FIAS and the FILA. The main result of the meeting was the statement of the fact that the FIAS position as the basic organization dealing with the development of sambo in the world would not be doubted. Hein Verbrüggen noted, ‘This fact is guaranteed by the GAISF regulations’.

Antonio Espinos, the President the World Karate Federation (WKF), expanded on the topic. He subjected to criticism the GAISF position concerning recognition of new sports which appear to be only branches in the federations. The discussion was supported by the president of the Ju-Jutsu International Federation (JJIF) Paul Hoglund, ‘It is necessary to lead a dialogue on the mutual agreement and settling the conflict in order to exclude, as in case with the FIAS and the FILA, the categorical requirements of the GAISF members’.

David Rudman, the FIAS president, drew the attention of the GAISF Council members to the role the organization plays as the guarantor of the authorities and autonomy of the members for keeping their status. In particular he said,
‘In order to prevent the attempts of encroachment on the authorities of any federation, GAISF member, it is necessary to accept the amendment to Article 11 of Charter “The members’ duties” of GAISF regulations: “To avoid conflict of interests between GAISF members it is necessary to present any new disciplines or their modifications to GAISF Council for the General Assembly approval”’.

Such statement can be called an astute policy because it excludes any accusations for Rafael Martinetti, the president of the FILA, who earlier distributed letters to national sambo federations with the appeal to participate in competitions under the FILA aegis. Besides, Rudman’s proposal gained approval and support of other federations’ presidents because the problem of sports variations becoming independent disciplines is acute now as any discipline is seeking recognition and membership in the GAISF.

During the session federations representing such kinds of sport as kickboxing, kendo and muaythai were recognized and admitted to the GAISF. Even before the election all of them took part in the session of the GAISF member’s commission representing federations of sport combat. It is interesting that in Russia the analogue of such a commission has already been established. It is Russian Union of Martial Arts. This fact was mentioned by Sergey Eliseev, the vice – president of AMSR and the president of Russian Sambo Federation.

The GAISF President Hein Verbrüggen stated in his interview to Sportcom.ru that he was satisfied with the commission work and at the end of the session suggested that the participants should consider before the following meeting the possibility of holding Martial Arts Games.