Sandbagging is a term used in martial arts to denote a practitioner who competes at a skill-bracket deemed less rigorous than their actual level of competitive ability. The term is adopted similarly in golf and various forms of racing. In contrast to these sports however, it remains unclear whether the grappling “sandbagger” necessarily does so intentionally. For example, in Judo or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where competition is generally divided by belt rank, a practitioner is conventionally not allowed to choose his or her own ranking and thus must compete at a level predetermined by his or her instructor.

This week at the 2024 IBJJF European Championship a competitor from Germany, Salvatore Cotrone age 22 competed as a white when he was in fact already a blue belt Since may 2023 under his instructor Norman Schaeffer. He holds 60 wins in Grappling/BJJ on Smoothcomp alone. He ended up winning the white belt division at the Europeans and proudly posted his picture on Instagram.

Dated from last weekend, January 2024:

Pictures from his Instagram (before he deleted all the pictures) show that he was a blue belt from as far back as May 2023.

He had also competed numerous times as a blue belt and is also listed as a BJJ blue belt on Smoothcomp.

IBJJF have already been informed and are contacting him. A serious penalty will follow for him, since IBJJF does not tolerate any form of sandbagging.

Sandbagging prohibitions: Some officiating organizations attempt to proactively curb the occurrence of sandbagging. These actions range from simple rule restrictions, such as the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation prohibiting those with a Judo black belt from competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu white belt divisions, to organizations such as the North American Grappling Association employing a special tracking system designed to record competitors nationally and potentially re-assign them to a higher skill-level in NAGA events.