Obituary

Malta Wrestling Federation Founder Bonello Passes Away

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - 12:38 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 4) -- Simon A. Bonello, former president and founder of the Malta Wrestling Federation, passed away on Monday. He was 85. 

Bonello introduced freestyle wrestling to Malta in 1967, which led to the creation of the federation in late 1969. A year later the federation became fully affiliated with the International Federation.

He served as an official of the Maltese Olympic Committee for 25 years, vice president for four years, and was an established referee. Bonello was one of Malta's longest serving presidents of a national association.

Bonello also worked to promote wrestling outside of his home country. His organization hosted international wrestling tournaments between 1993 and 2004 involving European small states and autonomous regions. 

During the 1970s, Bonello also served as president of the Weightlifting Federation, Bodybuilding Association and Chess Federation. He spent time working as a journalist and was vice president of the Sports Journalists Association.
 

#WrestleTirana

UWW Europe Concludes General Assembly in Tirana

Sunday, April 19, 2026 - 12:57 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

TIRANA, Albania (April 19) — The United World Wrestling European Council held its General Assembly in Tirana on Sunday, on the eve of the European Championships.

The Assembly was chaired by Europe Council President Karl Martin DITTMANN. It was attended by UWW President Nenad LALOVIC, the Council members as well as Secretary General Carlos ROY. Representatives from 30 National Federations were also registered. 

Dittmann presented the annual report of UWW Europe along with finance, budget and program reports.

Lalovic addressed the Assembly and focused on the aspects of developing wrestling and increasing the visibility of the sport.

“We are trying to be one of the most interesting sport to be followed by spectators on television, social media and our platform where we have achieved good results,” Lalovic said. “We believe that we can do much better and we are focused on that”

From the annual report of European Council, a special report was presented on the promotional program for Women’s Wrestling Europe.

Started in 2023, the project was continued in 2024 and 2025 with 11 countries selected for promotion last year. 

These countries were Austria, Croatia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Switzerland and Sweden.

The postponed project for GBR from 2024 was implemented in 2025.

UWW Europe also developed its own website to achieve better visibility. The new website is - uww-europe.eu.