Scheduled to run until November 8 in Novi Sad, the World Sambo Championships were merged with the age-group events after being moved from Turkmen capital Ashgabat due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

insidethegames will be providing a live blog over all four days of competition.

"Now athletes from more than 30 countries have arrived in Serbia to test their strength, to compete for medals," European Sambo Federation President Sergei Eliseev said today in Novi Sad.

"This is an important step for the development of the entire sambo world."

Eliseev, who is additionally an International Sambo Federation vice-president, also thanked the Serbian Sambo Federation and local authorities for stepping in at short notice to hold the event.

There will be no spectators present when competition gets underway because of the health crisis.

All delegation members needed to present a negative COVID-19 test result that was less than 72 hours old to enter Serbia.

Mask-wearing, hand-washing and keeping socially distanced are mandatory for all now in the bubble.

All volunteers who could come into contact with participants will also have to test negative, while officials and athletes will be transported on different busses, mats will be disinfected regularly and the sharing of equipment is banned.

The World Sambo Championships will be streamed live on both YouTube and the FIAS website in the absence of spectators.