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Sri Lankan Wrestling Federation Hosts National Referee Course

Tuesday, October 25, 2022 - 15:20 By United World Wrestling Press

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (October 25) – The Sri Lankan Wrestling Federation and Sri Lanka NOC organized an Introduction to Referee Course around their U20 National Championships. The course was held from 15-17 October and the competition was on 16 October.  Sri Lankan Wrestling Federation took an active part to make the course successful. Mr. Sarath Hewavithrana, president of Sri Lankan Wrestling Federation was present himself throughout the course.  Mr. Gopinath and Mr, Dinesh, both from Sri Lanka NOC, were also present during course.

The Introduction to Refereeing course was conducted by Mr. Ashok Kumar – UWW Educator, IS and Olympic Referee.  This course had 16 participants (14 men and 2 women).  Each day they had a theoretical session from 09h00 to 13h00 and a practical session form 14h30 to 18h00.  The referee participants focused on skills that would provide a solid foundation as a referee.  The areas they focused on were evaluation of holds, starting and ending matches, referee mechanics, positioning, safety of the athletes, and controlling the bout. During the course, they were asked to referee simulated matches before and after the competition.  All of the candidates took part in the U20 National Competition. These activities allowed the referees to apply the skills that they learned directly from the course. “The candidates were very enthusiast to under this course. All participants were happy to learn the course information.” said Mr. Kumar.

2027 World Championships

Las Vegas to Host 2027 World Championships

Sunday, May 10, 2026 - 16:07 By United World Wrestling Press

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LAS VEGAS (May 10) -- The 2027 World Championships will be held in Las Vegas, United States.

United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling have announced that next year's Senior World Championships, that will also serve as the first Olympic qualifier for 2028 LA Games, will be held at the historic Thomas & Mack Center, University of Las Vegas, Nevada from September 11 to 19. The center has a capacity of around 20,000.

The announcement came on the sidelines of the Pan-American Championships that are being held in Coralville, Iowa from May 7 to 10. The 2027 World Championships will mark a return of the mega event to the U.S. after 12 years as the country hosted the competition in 2015.

It will also award the first direct quotas for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 72 medalists in 18 Olympic weight classes at the 2027 World Championships will earn quotas for their respective National Olympic Committees.

"USA Wrestling is thrilled to bring the World Championships back to U.S. soil for the first time since 2015,” said Rich BENDER, USA Wrestling Executive Director. "Las Vegas will provide an elite experience for our world-class athletes and spectators, while building great momentum for the sport leading into the 2028 Olympic Games down the road in Los Angeles."

Earlier in January, UWW had detailed how wrestlers can qualify their respective NOCs for LA 2028 trough World Championships, Continental Olympic Qualifiers, UWW Rankings and the World Olympic Qualifiers.

The calendar for "Road to LA 2028" was also shared by UWW last week, detailing an expansive calendar with World Championships, Continental Championships, UWW Ranking Events and World and Continental Olympic Qualifiers.

Age-Group Worlds Calendar

In addition to the Senior World Championships, UWW also announced the U17, U20 and U23 World Championships for 2027.

The World Championships season will kick off in Amman, Jordan which will host the U17 World Championships from August 2 to 8. Two weeks later, Novi Sad, Serbia will play host to the U20 World Championships from August 23 to 29.

Next up will be the Veteran World Championships that will travel to the scenic town of Porec, Croatia and will be held from October 5 to 10. The last world event for the year will be the U23 World Championships and Brasov, Romania is scheduled to host it from October 18 to 24.

2027 World Championships
U17 - AMMAN, Jordan (August 2-8)
U20 - NOVI SAD, Serbia (August 23-29)
Senior - LAS VEGAS, U.S. (September 11-19)
Veteran - POREC, Croatia (October 5-10)
U23 - BRASOV, Romania (October 18-24)

As previously communicated by UWW, the age-group World Championships will see a significant change starting 2028 calendar. The U20 World Championships will be held before the U17 World Championships and the U23 World Championships will take place before the Senior World Championships.

The detailed progamme of the World Championships will be shared by UWW in due time. For more information about wrestling events, visit uww.org/events.