Tokyo 2020

Trio of Olympic Licenses Reassigned After Anti-Doping Rules Violations

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 19) – United World Wrestling this week confirmed that three wrestlers from the 2019 Senior Wrestling World Championships in Nur-Sultan have had their results disqualified following Anti-Doping Rules Violations.

Following Doping Controls and the results management conducted by the International Testing Agency (“ITA”) on behalf of United World Wrestling, the Anti-doping Rules Violations for the presence of prohibited substances have been established against Freestyle wrestlers Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA, 74), Badkha KHUTABA (SYR, 125), and Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB, 125), resulting in the automatic disqualification of the results, and as a consequence in their nation's Olympic licenses reassigned. Disciplinary proceedings, handled independently the ITA, are still pending to determine the sanctions on the athletes.

The new Olympic licenses have been awarded to the nations of the next highest-ranked wrestlers at 74kg (Poland) and 125kg (Iran, Kosovo). The national federations of France (74kg), Uzbekistan (125kg), and Syria (125kg) will be allowed to enter competitors at their respective Olympic qualifiers in March.

74kg – Kamil RYBICKI (POL)

1. RUS
2. ITA
3. USA
3. KAZ
5. JPN
6. POL

125kg – Egzon SHALA (KOS) + Yadollah MOHEBI (IRI)

1. GEO
2. TUR
3. UKR
3. CHN
5. KOS
6. IRI

The United World Wrestling website has updated brackets and results from the 2019 Senior Wrestling World Championships as well as the new allocations for Olympic licenses in each weight category. 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW partners with Spring Media for worldwide distribution

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 12) — United World Wrestling has appointed Spring Media as the global media rights partner for all its events across the 2025-2032 cycle, excluding the United States and other specific territories. This includes international wrestling competitions for Greco-Roman, Freestyle, and Women’s Wrestling, with its flagship Senior World Championships, the Ranking Series, and the Senior Asian and European Championships.

“We are pleased to announce a partnership with Spring Media that holds immense potential to expand our broadcast reach across new countries and elevate wrestling’s global profile. This collaboration not only strengthens our commitment to bring world-class wrestling to a broader audience but also positions us to grow the sport internationally, engaging fans like never before,” said Gordon Templeman, UWW Commercial & Communications Director. “Together, we are ready to take wrestling to the next level and inspire a passion for wrestling in every corner of the globe."

Spring Media facilitates a range of distribution in selected territories for Olympic federations like Karate, Judo, Taekwondo and Gymnastics, and holds a world-leading position as a distributor of fight sports through its sub-brand, Fight Globe.

“We are thrilled to be part of shaping the continued growth of these thrilling events through our global distribution arm,” said Sabine Kesseler, Commercial Director, Spring Media. “We see great potential in wrestling and applaud the new concepts that the UWW is introducing in the next cycle, making it even more eye-catching to its millions of fans - existing and new alike.”

About Spring Media group
Spring Media is an international full-service sports agency that serves some of the biggest leagues, federations, teams and broadcasters in the world. Its business is built around four core areas including Rights Management, Production Services, Streaming Solutions and Growth Marketing. Spring Media group has more than a hundred employees and global reach with offices throughout the Nordics, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. The group distributes, sells and produces more than 100 000 hours of live sports annually and works with over 500 broadcast partners. More info at: https://www.spring.media/
 

About UWW
UWW is the international governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) for the sport of wrestling. The organization oversees approx. 7000 matches per year in different wrestling styles. With its vision “to be globally recognized as an inspiring, innovative and leading Olympic Federation”, its mission is to lead the growth of Wrestling, competitive and recreational, around the world. More info at https://uww.org/about-uww/