Development

Aline Silva Awarded United World Wrestling’s Women in Sport Award

By Tim Foley

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (April 2) -- Aline SILVA (BRA) has been awarded United World Wrestling’s 2018 Women in Sport Award.

Silva, a 2014 world silver medalist 2016 Olympian, has spent much of the past 12 months creating an outreach program in her home city of Cubatã, Brazil, which provides educational and wrestling opportunities for girls.

"We are very proud of Aline," said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. "She is the type of female leader we want in our sport. She has taken her victories on the mat and is making a big impact with younger girls. We are honored to present her this award."

Silva will receive $10,000 from United World Wrestling and is expected to hire a coach and English teacher to help instruct 60 public school girls in Cubatã. The outreach program will also include weekly empowerment teachings with themes like leadership, personal development, and sexual and reproduction rights. 

“I think it’s important to want something big for yourself and others,” said Silva. “And for these girls I want to show them what it means to have a goal and how to strive for it everyday. I know that striving to reach a goal every day means you will make your dreams come true!”

Aline SILVA (r) became Brazil's first-ever world finalist in wrestling, earning silver at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Photo: Gabor Martin, United World Wrestling)

Silva kickstarted her to-be-named outreach program with a trip to the Global Sports Mentoring Program at the University of Tennessee's Peace, Sport and Society Program. During her six weeks on-site, Silva created a plan of action to empower Brazilian women through sports and sought advice on ways to improve her new program.

“I want to thank President Lalovic and everyone at United World Wrestling for all their great work in promoting women’s wrestling and gender equality.”

Though busy with outreach and instruction, Silva isn’t slowing down on the mats. She is still training full-time and expects to compete at this year’s world championships in Budapest. Her goal is to medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Other applicants included Power Club (ESP), Johanna KIKAS (EST), Elham HEIDARI (IRI/CAN), Yevheniia PAVLOVA (UKR) and Fédération Française de Lutte who each showed commitment to advancing the gender equality through wrestling.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW Appeal Committee concludes investigation into Olympic qualification match

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 29) -- The United World Wrestling (UWW) Appeal Committee has reached a decision regarding the appeals filed against the UWW Disciplinary Chamber's ruling dated April 23, 2024, concerning the officiating of Match 266 (ITA vs AZE) at the European OG Qualifier in Baku, Azerbaijan.

After carefully considering the statements from the refereeing officials involved (Alexei Bazulin, Roman Pavlov, Ibrahim Cicioglu, Kamel Bouaziz, and Casey Goessl), the reports of the two review panels, and the opinions of impartial refereeing experts, the Appeal Committee concluded that there was no indication of bias in the officiating of the match. The issues identified were determined to be related to refereeing errors and technical aspects of officiating.

To ensure a fair and proportionate outcome, the Appeal Committee has referred the case back to the UWW Disciplinary Chamber for reconsideration. The Disciplinary Chamber has been instructed to reassess the appropriate sanctions, if any, based solely on the refereeing errors and technical officiating issues in accordance with the relevant UWW rules and regulations.

Considering the above, the Disciplinary Chamber revisited the case and issued the following decision:

Considering the above, in particular, that the appeal panel found that “there is no indication of bias amounting to a breach of the fundamental principles of integrity and fair play in the officiating of Match 266” and that “since this case is about the refereeing errors and questionable decisions of a technical nature”, pursuant to the UWW Regulations and rules the Disciplinary Chamber renders the following revised sanction:

  1. The suspension against the refereeing delegates (Mr. Bouaziz, Mr. Cicioglu, Mr. Goessl) is reduced until 31 May 2024; notwithstanding the foregoing, the refereeing delegates are reinstated in the selection for the Olympic Games and may be considered, subject to the final selection by the Refereeing Commission and the UWW Bureau, to officiate only as mat chairmen during the Games.
  2. The suspension against Mr. Bazulin is reduced until 31 May 2024; notwithstanding the foregoing, Mr. Bazulin is reinstated in the selection for the Olympic Games and may be considered, subject to the final selection by the Refereeing Commission and the UWW Bureau, to officiate as referee during the Games.
  3. The suspension against Mr. Pavlov is reduced to the same period as the judge’s, i.e. until 30 September 2024.

The UWW remains committed to upholding the integrity of the sport and ensuring that all competitions are conducted fairly and in accordance with the rules and regulations.