Ezio Gamba from Brescia, coach of Russia and Putin’s teacher, resigns as secretary general of the European Union of judo- Corriere.it

Ezio Gamba, from Brescia, head coach of the Russian national judo team, also master of Vladimir Putin who conferred citizenship on him on 8 January 2016 after the great results obtained at the London Olympics in 2012, presented the Resignation as Secretary General of the European Union of Judo (Eju) following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

Gamba, 63 years old (here the interview given to Corriere-Brescia for his 60 years), Olympic gold and silver respectively in Moscow ’80 and Los Angeles ’84 with Italy, since 2009 he has been head coach of the judo national team even if he has not been to Russia for over two years for health reasons. Former coach of the Italian national team, he had brought a renewal to Russian judo bringing it to the Olympic title (with Tagir Khaibulaev in the under 100 kg category in London 2016) and to other prestigious international results. More than once Gamba found himself on the mat giving lessons to Putin. His resignation follows that of Russian Sergey Soloveychik as president of the European federation. Contracts with Russian sponsors were frozen and competitions stopped in Russia itself, while a check for 100,000 euros was guaranteed in support of Ukraine.

Gamba’s post was recently renewed, last December, during the congress held in Istanbul. The Brescia player commented on his decision as follows: “I cannot stand still in front of the tragic events that are happening: I have never thought about a divided world of judo and, if there is nothing else to do right now, I do the thing that feels right. I will always remain, with my body and mind, at the disposal of my sport ».