Development

New Referee and Rules Courses coming to the UWW Academy

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 9) --- The Development Department and Referee Commission will launch a series of courses centered around Olympic wrestling and refereeing rules. Evaluating holds and situations are not always easy and can be very complex.  These courses are designed to highlight specific and more complicated rules in hopes of providing a better understanding of how situations are being evaluated. Over the next year, will be 10 courses developed and published on the UWW Academy site.

“We are excited to announce new courses on the UWW Academy Platform, designed to elevate refereeing standards and promote excellence across all levels. These courses cover essential topics such as attack-counterattack actions, evaluation of holds, takedown and control, and out-of-bounds situations," said Antonio Silvestri. "As Head of the Refereeing Commission, I encourage all referees—experienced or starting out—to take advantage of these courses. Continuous learning is key to our success, and these courses will help us maintain the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and professionalism in every match. Let's keep raising the bar together." 

The first course on Attack vs Counterattack situations has been published on the Academy site. Attack vs Counterattack situations are referees' most complicated and challenging situations to evaluate. This course will try to highlight how these situations are evaluated and what questions referees must answer during an action. While this course and the others are centered around referees, they are available and encouraged to be completed by all wrestling stakeholders.

The Attack vs Counterattack course will begin with background information and the rules which include video examples.  Then the course will provide 10 specific video examples along with explanations. Next the participants will practice their video analysis with 10 videos.  The course will finish with a 15-video quiz. All the courses that will be published will follow a similar format.

The UWW Academy is the official educational platform for United World Wrestling. It offers numerous courses on coaching, referees, rules, sports administration, and beach wrestling. The academy also offers additional resources, performance analysis metrics from major UWW events, videos, and the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. It is free and available to all participants. To get started and create your free profile, please visit  https://academy.uww.org/.

#WrestleTirana

European Championships 2026 Freestyle Draws & Brackets: Watch Live, Schedule & Results

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (April 23) -- The Freestyle action at the European Championships 2026 will begin on Friday in Tirana, Albania. The brackets for the same were drawn on Thursday.

European Wrestling Championships 2026 Schedule

The European Championships will be wrestled over seven day from April 20 to April 26 with Greco-Roman kicking off the event, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. On Friday, five Freestyle weights classes will be in action and the remaining five on Saturday.

UWW Plus

April 24, Friday

Women's Wrestling Repechage: 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg, 72kg - 10:30 hours
Freestyle Qualification Rounds: 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg - 10:30 hours
Freestyle Semifinals: 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg - 16:45 hours
Women's Wrestling Finals: 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg, 72kg - 18:00 hours

April 25, Saturday

Freestyle Repechage: 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg - 10:30 hours
Freestyle Qualification Rounds: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg - 10:30 hours
Freestyle Semifinals: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg - 16:45 hours
Freestyle Finals: 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg - 18:00 hours

April 26, Sunday

Freestyle Repechage: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg - 15:00 hours onwards
Freestyle Finals: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg, 125kg - 17:00 hours onwards

European Wrestling Championships Freestyle Preview | Download Wrestling Photos

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