United World Wrestling

United World Wrestling's Statement on Conflict in Ukraine

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 16:28 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- The UWW Bureau met today to discuss the conflict taking place in Ukraine.

From the outset, the Bureau wished to express its solidarity with the Wrestling community, and more largely, the sports community in Ukraine and all the people affected by the war.

It re-affirmed one of the missions of the Federation, in line with the Olympic Charter, to promote peace through sports.

In order to preserve the safety of all athletes and the integrity and fairness of all its competitions, as a measure of reciprocity for all wrestlers prevented to travel and compete due to this situation, the Bureau carefully reviewed, and decided to align with the events protective measures recommended by the IOC in its statement of February 28, 2022: “In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organizers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions”.

In this deplorable situation, the Bureau has decided that no wrestlers or officials belonging to the UWW affiliated and associated federations in Russia and Belarus shall be, with immediate effect, invited or allowed to participate in international competitions in the UWW calendar.

The Bureau also approved the cancellation of the International Tournaments planned in Russia or Belarus this year as per the IOC’s urgent recommendation of February 25, 2022.

The Bureau also acknowledged the messages from its stakeholders and members about the current situation. 

The UWW Bureau will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and make any further immediate decisions as the situation evolves.

The UWW is in close contact with the IOC to coordinate any humanitarian support.

#development

ISF Gymnasiade in Zlatibor adds coaching seminar for Serbian coaches

Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 11:52 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZLATIBOR, Serbia (April 24) -- United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to provide a coaching education seminar for Serbian coaches at the ISF Gymnasiade, which was held in Zlatibor, Serbia, from April 4-12, with the wrestling competition being held from April 6-8.

Wrestling has been a part of each of the Gymnasiade events, and the previous edition was held in Bahrain last October.

As part of the Gymnasiade events, ISF focuses on providing education to coaches and PE teachers. UWW was fortunate to give a training session for Serbian coaches at this event.

The training was led by UWW Educators Georgi SREDKOV (BUL), Neven ZUGAJ (CRO and Nenad ZUGAJ (CRO).

The seminar was attended by 23 coaches over the two sessions. The morning session focused on sound strategies for coaching and better understanding wrestling rules. The afternoon session was a practical session on the mats that focused on sharing wrestling techniques and implementing interactive games. 

Sredkov also participated in the ISF Forum on Beyond the Events: How School Sports Shape Future Leaders, which was held on April 9.

During the Forum, Sredkov discussed how wrestling helps athletes learn to find solutions to problems, how competing helps handle pressure and remain calm and focused, and the importance of collaboration for success. 

The wrestling competition was held in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling, and 303 athletes from 16 countries participated. The results can be found here.