00:01On the sand of this Lome beach, Anthony a Sambo athlete is warming up.
00:06A match awaits him. Sambo, a sport that originated in Soviet Russia,
00:12takes its name from a Russian expression, an armed self-defense.
00:17I used to be a judoka. I decided to take up competitive Sambo to test myself.
00:24In three years of Sambo, Anthony has already competed in four African tournaments.
00:29His journey is now part of a broader partnership between Togo and Russia with sports as the channel.
00:37This initiative could enable us to receive scholarships to travel to Russia
00:41to participate in training programs for athletes, coaches and all practitioners of this discipline.
00:51The Togolese Sambo Federation has been organizing demonstrations on the sand in Lome since June 2024.
00:58The Africa Initiative Cup, meanwhile, is in its first edition.
01:03In 2023, the Russian and Togolese sports ministers signed a cooperation agreement
01:10covering school and mass sports, infrastructure and training.
01:17Our mission here is to develop this type of sport in Togo as part of cultural and sports exchanges as
01:24well as training exchanges.
01:32Today, our federations may be invited by the Russian Federation to participate in sports initiatives and international competitions.
01:42Togo will participate.
01:44Despite making progress, Sambo remains relatively unknown compared to SEI football.
01:51The nascent partnership between Lome and Moscow could earn the sport the much needed visibility.
01:57We ask this question.
