UAE spurred by impressive show in Grand Slam World Tour jiu-jitsu event at Rio de Janeiro

The UAE will be keen for jiu-jitsu to be accepted into the Olympic Games given how its athletes performed at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour, Gary Meenaghan writes from Rio de Janeiro.

Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi won two gold medals in the 108kg brown belt division at Rio de Janeiro. Courtesy UAEJJF

RIO DE JANEIRO // It is little wonder the UAE is keen for jiu-jitsu to be accepted into the Olympic Games when the country’s athletes can perform as proficiently as they did at this past weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour in Rio de Janeiro.

As Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi said after taking two gold medals in the 108kg brown belt division: “If the sport is ever accepted into the Olympics, I’m 99 per cent sure we will win a lot.”

Amid the pool of more than 2,000 athletes that came from far and wide for a shot at the US$100,000 (Dh367,000) prize fund – Angola to Argentina, Poland to Portugal – a small band of 27 Emiratis did their nation proud. Inside the Rio Olympic Arena, they fought hard and fair and will return home this week with 24 ribboned rewards.

“I am very happy. It has been a great event,” said Mohamed Humaid bin Dalmouj, a board member with the UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF). “The spectator turnout has been fantastic, the competition is the highest level we have ever seen at an Abu Dhabi Grand Slam event, and, if we are honest, our UAE team has won more medals than we expected. Without doubt, this has been our most successful event yet.”

Faisal Al Ketbi, the 28-year-old black belt, was one of 15 representatives of the UAEJJF to win gold, while a further four won silver and five took bronze.

“The Brazilian fans were obviously behind their fighter, but there is a mutual respect between us all,” said Al Ketbi, who in beating local practitioner Pedro Agrizzi disappointed the local and vocal fans inside the arena. “I’m just very happy and proud to be here and to see the support and interest the sport is generating.”

The Rio haul resulted in the UAE jiu-jitsu team finishing fourth overall in the Best Team No-Gi standings. The next event takes the team to Poland for the World Championships, before returning to Abu Dhabi for the signature Grand Slam in January. The vision of the UAEJJF, however, is far more long-sighted.

“The federation knows the country has huge potential and their main objective is to get the sport into the Olympics, but it will take time,” said Al Hammadi, who won gold at this year’s Asian Beach Games, the second-largest multi-sport event in the world. “There are many things that must change to meet the Olympic requirements, but we know that is the ultimate goal.”

As well as not yet complying with the specifications outlined in the World Anti-Doping Authority’s Code of Conduct, the sport’s international federation, the IBJJF, is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is this that the Emirates is setting its sights on amending. Discussions took place this weekend between the UAEJJF and several high-ranking Brazilian jiu-jitsu officials to strengthen ties and take the sport forward.

Initially at least, it appears positive.

“The affiliation between the Federacao Brasileira de Jiu Jitsu and the UAEJJF is very important because they are very organised with professionalism and a lot of structure and are taking the sport to the level that we all desire,” said Rogerio Gavassa, president of the Federacao Carioca, the governing body for jiu-jitsu in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Al Hammadi also held direct talks with Walter Mattos, president of the Federacao Brasileira de Jiu Jitsu, the national federation, regarding an online portal he hopes to help set up to improve professionalism and ease of access to a wider audience. With the sport already accepted into the Olympic Council of Asia and set to debut at the World Beach Games in California in 2019, the focus is now on Europe.

“First, we are trying to get all the federations from around the world to be accepted by their own individual National Olympic Committees,” he said. “We are already working on being accepted into the European Games and then we will look to South and North America, which is a little bit harder.

“It’s a long process and we are not ready yet, but we are making progress. I believe that by 2019, we will at least be recognised by the IOC.”

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