In the period from March 23 to April 2, 2021, games were held to draw the “Independence Cup of the Republic of Uzbekistan” in rugby-15 among military personnel and employees of law enforcement agencies, ministries, departments and services, in which the teams of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the National Guard, State Security Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The organizers of this event were the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Rugby Federation of Uzbekistan.
According to the results of the games, the 5th place was taken by the team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the 4th place – by the team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 3rd place – by the team of the State Security Service. The teams of the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard reached the final.
On April 2, 2021, the final game took place at the stadium of the sports complex of the Ministry of Defense. This event was accompanied by demonstration performances of athletes from the sports club of the Ministry of Defense, as well as military personnel of the Ministry of Defense demonstrated their skills in combat training, mastery of hand-to-hand combat techniques and possession of weapons. The final game was attended by official representatives of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports, the NOC of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Defense, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Guard, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other structures.
As a result of the game, the Defense Ministry team defeated the National Guard team with a score of 46:12 and won the Independence Cup.
During the award ceremony, Chairman of the Rugby Federation of Uzbekistan S.S. Safoev and the Minister of Defense Kurbanov B.N of the Republic of Uzbekistan presented the winners with commemorative diplomas and medals, as well as expressed gratitude to all participating teams for a good game.
The Rugby Federation of Uzbekistan would like to express special gratitude to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense for preparing the organization and holding the spectacular final of the “Cup of Independence”, as well as thank all the athletes for the games and wish them further success and victories!
An official decision was made to give this event the status of traditional competitions and to hold them annually, which will contribute to the development of rugby in our republic and attract a larger number of participants.