The followers of this discipline will no longer have to go abroad to fight.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu amateur fights can again be organized on Quebec territory. A decree to this effect was signed by the Council of Ministers of the Legault government, Radio-Canada has learned. These competitions, like those of several other combat sports, had been banned for 10 years due to an amendment to the federal Criminal Code.
The decree, which Radio-Canada was unable to consult, was signed by the Cabinet on March 8. It should therefore be published in the Gazette officielle du Québec by April 8.
Its adoption decriminalizes the holding of Brazilian jiu-jitsu amateur fights, subject to the approval of safety regulations by the Department of Leisure and Sports Safety of the Ministry of Education (MEQ). Said settlement has not yet been approved, but it would only be a formality, according to our sources.
Decriminalized, Brazilian jiu-jitsu thus becomes the first non-federated combat sport to obtain the right to present amateur fights in Quebec since the amendment of section 83 (2) of the Criminal Code in 2013.
