Ranking Series

Wrestling Revamps Ranking Series System, Names 2019 Host Locations

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) – The United World Wrestling Bureau has approved new regulations for the 2019 Ranking Series. The recommendations were brought forward by the Technical Commission at a meeting last week in Belgrade.

The most important changes to the 2019 Ranking Series centered around allocation of points at world championships, continental championships, and Ranking Series events. The points were rebalanced to emphasize participation, and success, at the world and continental championships.

“I’m very pleased with the work of our Sport department and the Technical Commission,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “The Ranking Series and seeding process has taken considerable work, but if you look now we are rewarding the best wrestlers for their efforts and their successes.”

New worldwide rankings have been updated on the United World Wrestling website. The 2018 World Championships results are the basis of the rankings, as each year the world championships results will be the first points for the following year.

“The continuity from year-to-year, was important for our national federations,” said Lalovic. “We needed to ensure that should they compete; our very best athletes will meet in the semifinals or the finals.”

The seeding process for the World Championships and Olympic Games will now also include a field of the top four wrestlers in each weight category with lower seeded athletes bumping up should one of the top four not participate in the world championships. The previous version of the world championships did not replace top seeds when they were absent of the competition.

The number of points awarded at a competition will also be impacted by the number of wrestlers entered in each bracket. For weight categories with 10 or fewer entries an additional six (6) points will be added. For categories with 11-20 wrestlers entered an additional eight (8) points will be added. Ten (10) points will be added to any weight category with more than 20 entries.

Points will be allocated to participating athletes in a weight category and are not transferable to other athletes or weight categories. Points will also reset after the world championships or Olympic Games with the points from the previous year’s championships or games used for following year’s rankings. For example, the 2019 rankings start with only the results of the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

There will no longer be a +2kg weight allowance granted for Ranking Series, Continental Championships, World Championships, or Olympic Games.

The Technical Commission also recommended, and the bureau approved, locations for the 2019 Ranking Series events, with Women’s Wrestling and Freestyle traveling together to all four events, while Greco-Roman joins in Sassari but otherwise has additional unique locations.

The Ranking Series will kick off with the Ivan Yarygin in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, a competition long hailed as the “Toughest Wrestling Tournament in the World.” The 2019 edition is already creating a response, with top-level wrestlers from around the world committed to the competition, including 97kg rivals Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) and Kyle SNYDER (USA).

The Yarygin will begin January 24th with coverage on UnitedWorldWrestling.org

The Technical Commission also discussed the location and format for the 2019 World Cups, with more information available in the coming weeks.

For additional information and details on the Ranking Series, please review the full circular, HERE.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW decision regarding Chamizo-Bayramov bout

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 23) -- The United World Wrestling Disciplinary Chamber has decided to suspend, for different periods, the refereeing body and refereeing delegates for the alleged violations during the semifinal bout between Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) and Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) at the European OG Qualifier 2024 in Baku.

Despite the sanctions, Bayramov remains the winner of the bout as according to Article 53 of the International Wrestling Rules, under no circumstances may the result of a match be modified after the victory has been declared on the mat.

The Disciplinary Chamber, however, asked UWW to place Chamizo as a top seed in the brackets of the next qualifying event, the World OG Qualifier from May 9 in Istanbul.

During the Chamizo-Bayramov bout, Roman PAVLOV was the referee on the mat, Ali M. SAIWAN was the judge and Aleksei BAZULIN was the mat chairman. The referee delegation comprised Kamel BOUAZIZ, Ibrahim CICIOGLU and Casey GOESSL.

The Disciplinary Chamber has decided to suspend both Pavlov and Cicioglu from all their duties until December 31, 2024. Saiwan is suspended from all his duties until September 30, 2024. Mat chairman for the bout Bazulin is suspended from all his duties until June 30, 2024, and the remaining two members of the referee delegation Bouaziz and Goessl have been handed suspensions from all their duties until June 30, 2024.

Bayramov won the bout 8-8 on criteria and earned a Paris Olympic quota for Azerbaijan. However, the Italian Wrestling Federation complained about several refereeing mistakes during this bout and a controverted challenge decision which are deemed to have caused an incorrect final score and outcome of the match.

UWW formed two different panels to review the complaints and statements from each member of the refereeing body and the refereeing delegates were requested and forwarded to the UWW Administration. The refereeing delegates also submitted their co-signed report on the match.
 
The UWW panels reviewed the match and all alleged errors surrounding the match, including the refereeing sequences and scoring, the challenge decision by the refereeing delegates, and as well as the appointment and distribution of responsibilities among the defendants.

Both panels agreed that some actions during the bout were not scored correctly, including not spotting the passivity of the wrestler(s). It also agreed that the refereeing consultations were not efficient, a timing error was made and the challenge consultation suffered major shortcomings in its functioning.

In addition, the panels reported a gross lack of discernment in the assignment of the refereeing body, and in the distribution of the roles during the challenge for this specific match.

UWW is committed and makes continuous efforts to uphold the integrity of the sport.