2026 World Championships

Astana Announced as Replacement Host for 2026 World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 22) -- Astana, Kazakhstan will host the 2026 World Championships from October 24 to November 1.

United World Wrestling Bureau met on Friday and after careful consideration of the current geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing uncertainty and impact on international travel, it decided to change the host for the 2026 World Championships.

Manama, Bahrain was scheduled to host the World Championships as it was awarded the tournament in Zagreb last year. UWW and Bahrain released a joint statement on Friday, announcing the postponement of the same.

After successful site visits and inspections, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation was chosen as a replacement host and Barys Arena was selected as the venue.

World Championships 2026

The announcement marks the return of the World Championships to Astana, a city which successfully hosted the 2019 World Championships. Close to 1000 wrestlers participated in 2019 edition, making it one of the most attended tournaments.

As seen in 2019, full attendance is expected at the the Barys Arena for the nine-day event.

UWW remains committed to assisting National Federations and the schedule for the 2026 World Championships in Astana will be communicated soon. For details of events, visit uww.org/events.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW receives applications for UWW Athletes Commission election

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 23) -- The United World Wrestling Athletes' Commission will bear a new look come September.

After the July 15 deadline to submit applications for candidates, 14 wrestlers have sent their applications to be elected to the Commission. The election for the same will be held during the September World Championships in Zagreb.

Nine members, including minimum three women members, will be elected to the Athletes' Commission by secret ballot by the athletes participating in the World Championships.

The winning wrestlers will elect the Commission's chairman, who will have a seat on the UWW Bureau for the next four years, and a right to vote at the Congress.

After the careful reviewing of the applications by an ad-hoc Nomination Commission to ensure compliance with the eligibility criteria outlined in the original call for candidates, 14 wrestlers were deemed eligible for the election.

The criteria included competitive activity in the past six years, good standing of their national federation, absence of disciplinary sanctions, and a demonstrated commitment to athletes' rights, among others.

The candidates listed below have been confirmed as eligible:

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Abdellatif Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Jessica LAVERS-MCBAIN (AUS)

Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)

It is expected from the members of this commission to actively participate in the work of this commission, to be the voice of the athletes within UWW and to represent and promote the wrestlers and wrestling around the world.

Each Continent must be represented in this commission, and one of the continental members will represent the commission in the Executive Committee of the concerned Continental Council.