Obituary

Referee Thomas Martin Hyllegaard Passes Unexpectedly at Age 37

Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - 12:47 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 25) -- We are sad to announce the sudden death of United World Wrestling category I referee, Thomas Martin Hyllegaard, who was taken from us Saturday, August 22.

Thomas lived his early years in the Danish city of Frederikshavn, where he started wrestling at the age of 10. His life has since revolved around wrestling. As a young man, he was wrestling in the Danish Capitol city of Copenhagen while attending the Danish Police academy.

In 2008, Thomas attended the quadrennial European Games for Police officers, where he placed 7th. He took up refereeing the same year which he excelled at, quickly reaching the top tiers of international refereeing. Thomas stood firm at his goal – he wished to referee at the Olympic Games.

He worked tirelessly for the advancement of the Danish referees. Thomas led a successful campaign recruiting young referees as well as conveying and translating the latest rules from United World Wrestling.

Thomas is survived by his wife and two young sons, ages 8 and 6.

#IndiaWrestling

Wrestling Federation of India provisionally suspended

Thursday, August 24, 2023 - 17:06 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (August 23) -- United World Wrestling placed the Wrestling Federation of India under provisional suspension with immediate effect after the Indian body failed to hold an election in due course.

The UWW Disciplinary Chamber decided on Wednesday that it had sufficient grounds to impose the provisional suspension on the body as the situation in the federation has prevailed for at least six months. The Chamber noted that the absence of a regularly elected president and a board does not comply with the UWW regulations and the conditions for membership.

The Chamber also considered the protection of athletes after the allegations against the former President of the WFI and the necessity to restore the functioning of the federation as another ground to impose the provisional suspension.

Wrestlers and their support personnel [individuals with a high-performance, medical or technical role such as coaches, assistant coaches, sports physicians or masseurs] remain authorized to participate in all UWW-sanctioned events. However, they shall do so under the UWW flag.

The decision means that all other members of the federation [current board members, administrators, etc.] are not authorized to attend any UWW event until further notice.

The wrestling affairs in India were run by an ad hoc body which was warned by UWW on July 3 about the possible suspension of the WFI should elections not be held in due course. Recently, the elective general assembly was postponed due to an unknown date, which led UWW to act according to the resolution of the UWW Bureau on June 27, 2023.