#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW steps up for 2028 LA Olympic cycle with new Refereeing Commission

Monday, March 10, 2025 - 01:15 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 10) -- As the new Olympic cycle kicks off, United World Wrestling has announced a new set of Refereeing Commission and appointed an independent group to maintain the standards of officiating in matches.

UWW's aim is to enhance the efficiency and performance and continuous improvement in officiating in wrestling. Taking a step in that direction, UWW has appointed an independent refereeing group to assess the standards of the officials and the officiating. The group will directly refer to the UWW President and UWW Bureau Members.

The three-member group will consist of Antonio SILVESTRI, Kamel BOUAZIZ and Arsen JULFALAKYAN. Former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Julfalakyan will provide valuable expertise as an athlete and a different perspective from that of a referee.

UWW has also reinvented the Refereeing Commission with headed by Levent SEN. The new commission will retain the same functions and responsibilities and ensure high level of officiating across all competitions.

Additionally, it will be responsible for training new referees and equipping them with the necessary knowledge to progress in their roles. The Commission will work closely with the Development Department to establish the referee education pathway and content.

For referee education and training, UWW has set up theoretical training through online content on UWW Academy, Nearpod and webinars. All the training material is available on the UWW website (uww.org). Ibrahim CICIOGLU will be in charge of the education in close collaboration with the Development department and provide expertise and advice to all parties.

Saitiev, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 49

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 17:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- Wrestling legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Buvaisar SAITIEV passed away Sunday. He was 49 years old and nine days short of his 50th birthday.

Saitiev was buried in the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan on Tuesday, March 4.

Saitiev, widely considered the best Freestyle wrestler of all time, was born in Dagestan but moved to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia to train at the Mindiashvili wrestling academy under the legendary coach Dmitri Mindiashvili.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement soon after winning his third Olympic title in Beijing 2008. His other two titles came in 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Brandon SLAY (USA) defeated him.

Apart from the world and Olympic titles, Saitiev was six-time European champion.

 

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC expressed his shock on the untimely passing of Saitiev.

"The wrestling family is in shock with the passing of Saitiev," Lalovic said. "He was a legend of the sport and we lost him at a very young age of 49. Saitiev inspired wrestlers around the world and many took up the sport because of him. It's an unrepairable loss to the wrestling community and we are with the Saitiev family during this time of grief."

In 2007, Saitiev was awarded as the best Freestyle wrestler in history by UWW [then FILA].

Wrestling majorly in the 74kg weight class, Saitiev stood at 183 centimetres and made his World Championships debut in Atlanta, 1995. A year later, he won the gold medal at 74kg at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He became world champion in 1997 and 1998 but did not participate in 1999. He lost to Slay in early rounds of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished ninth.

But he captured the gold medals again at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and returned to the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became the world champion in 2005 and 2006 and claimed his third Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.