Obituary

Rahim Jeddi, 'Golden Whistle' Winner, Dies at 77

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (November 11) – Rahim Jeddi, a well-respected referee from Iran who was honored in 2006 with the 'Golden Whistle" has died at age 77.

The Golden Whistle is awarded annually to the best referee at a world championships or Olympic Games.

Jeddi worked for more than three decades as an international referee and worked several Olympic Games and world championships. Passionate for the sport of wrestling, Jeddi was was also the head of the Tehran Wrestling Association for a few years and was deeply involved in the Zurkhaneh Sports Federation helping to organize competitions and bring attention to the traditional Iranian sport.

United World Wrestling and the wrestling community offer its condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Jeddi and the Iranian Wrestling Federation.

#WrestleTirana

UWW Europe Concludes General Assembly in Tirana

By United World Wrestling Press

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.