If you haven’t yet read IJF President Marius Vizer’s latest interview, which appears on the EJU web site, you should.  It’s pretty obvious that he intends to take Judo into the ranks of the elite, professional sports in which only the countries that are Judo powers, and moneyed athletes can afford to participate.  I’m not sure how this is going to play out in the long run, but if tennis is any indication- and Vizer’s camp has alluded to the fact that Judo should emulate tennis- fewer countries and fewer athletes stand a chance of competing fairly in the big leagues.

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