Elite competitors around the world have a reason to be happy as the IBJJF have announced a new date for the 2020 edition of the Pan-Ams. The competition will go ahead between the 8th and 11th of October, in the Silver Spurs Arena in Orlando, Florida. The new date is fantastic news for American athletes as it will give them another opportunity to get high-level competition in before they make a run at the upcoming ADCC trials. This will mark the first major IBJJF tournament to take place since the organisation put a halt to all events as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in around 7 months without any competition at all.
The IBJJF have also announced a number of hygiene measures that will be put into place for this event including mandatory face coverings for all staff and competitors/coaches, no spectators allowed whatsoever, and a limit of one companion per competitor. They will also be putting a cap on the number of competitors that can register for the event in order to reduce the overall number of attendees, although there will be no points-requirement for registration at all. This is obviously due to the lack of events that the IBJJF have been able to schedule this year, which would naturally prevent a lot of top-tier competitors from qualifying.
Of course, you can’t please everyone and it seems as though several World and Pan-Am Champions have taken issue with the IBJJF deciding to go ahead with the Pan-Ams 2020 considering that travel restrictions are still in place. This is pretty understandable considering the tournament is won overwhelmingly by Brazilians, with only 8 out of a total of 55 champions over the last 3 years not representing Brazil. When the announcement was made on the IBJJF’s official Instagram, there were a number of comments from high-profile athletes registering their displeasure:
Kaynan Duarte: Pan with the borders close? Better do an American Nationals.
*The below have all been translated*
Bianca Basilio: Brazilians will enter?
– Gabriela Fechter: No we can’t
Gabi Garcia: I really want to compete! I think we need this! But I put myself in the place of athletes who are in Brazil! I think i Would be very sad! Two sides of the coin!
Abraham Marte: Black belt without Brazilians hurts, it’s not a championship. It’s a business, no morals.
Nathalie Ribeiro: Oh my god I don’t believe it.
Horlando Monteiro: How will the Brazilians come to fight in the USA if the borders are closed?
Anna Rodrigues: This is difficult, IBJJF. Without Brazilians this Pan will be invalid! But you are not prepared for this conversation.
