World Cup

USA, Azerbaijan Announced as Hosts for World Cups

Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 11:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 20) – In a historic step, United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling will host a combined Men's and Women's World Cups in Iowa, USA.

UWW announced the host of the three World Cups after a Bureau meeting held at its headquarters in Switzerland. The Bureau approved the combined World Cup for '22 and '23 in the USA, while the 2022 Greco-Roman World Cup was provisionally awarded to Baku, Azerbaijan pending a venue inspection visit.

UWW President Nenad LALOVIC said that the organization continues to progress with a dynamic host city process and the 2022 calendar is something the fans can look forward to.

“We are pleased to finalize the 2022 calendar and looking forward to high-level events with elite competition,” Lalovic said. "We continue to progress the sport with a dynamic host city process which works with organizers in a partnership approach.

"The 4 ranking Series events, Continental Championships, a World Championships in Belgrade, and an updated World Cup format will certainly be moments to look forward to in 2022.”

The '22 World Cup in Iowa is scheduled for December 10-11, while the '23 competition will take place December 9-10. The Greco-Roman World Cup in Baku is slated for November 5-6.

"USA Wrestling is excited to once again bring one of the most important wrestling competitions on the planet to the Coralville/Iowa City community, which is truly an international wrestling hotbed," Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director, said. "We are extremely pleased that we will be able to showcase the world's best men's and women's freestyle wrestlers in the same location. The atmosphere will be electric and fans will not want to miss this action."

The '22 World Cups, and moving forward, will be held in an updated format from earlier editions. The top five teams from the World Championships earn an invitation to the tournament. In addition, United World Wrestling will comprise the sixth team with the remaining wrestlers who participated in the World Championships.

USA Wrestling has hosted the men's freestyle World Cup 30 times in the past -- the most for any nation. Coralville, Iowa, will become the 10th USA city to host the tournament.

The other US cities which have hosted the World Cup include Toledo, Ohio (17 times); Los Angeles, California (three times); Chattanooga, Tenn. (twice); Spokane, Washington (twice); Stillwater, Oklahoma (twice); Baltimore, Maryland.; Fairfax, Va., Boise, Idaho and Iowa City, Iowa.

The Bureau provisionally approved Baku, Azerbaijan as the Greco-Roman World Cup host pending a venue inspection visit. The tournament will be held on November 5-6. 

If approved, the Greco-Roman World Cup will return to UWW's calendar after five years, when Abadan City, Iran, hosted the competition in 2017.

Furthermore, Baku will return to the UWW's event calendar after a long absence. Apart from the Golden Grand Prix final, Baku last hosted a UWW event back in 2012 – the Cadet World Championships.

For a full list of United World Wrestling's events, please visit uww.org's event page

#development

Moldova steps up, hosts coaching and referee courses

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 - 19:57 By United World Wrestling Press

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KISHINEV, Moldova (December 10) -- Moldova, a country rich with wrestling history and some good performances in recent years, continues to develop the sport.

Moldovan Wrestling Federation has taken steps to train and improve its coaches, referees and wrestlers and organized two courses [Level 3 Coaching and Level 2 National Referee] and a competition from November 23 to 29.

The two courses were organized in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, UWW and Moldova Olympic Committee. United World Wrestling also supported their national tournament that was held at the conclusion of the courses.

"We are pleased with the successful implementation of the Level 3 coaching program and Level 2 referee program," said Ivan GHEORGHIU, President of the Moldova Wrestling Federation. "The course introduced modern international coaching and refereeing methodologies that are essential for the continued development of wrestling in Moldova. We value the collaboration with UWW and Olympic Solidarity and look forward to further educational initiatives."

The Level 3 coaching course was led by Yusup ABDUSALAMOV (UWW Educator). The course focused on performance analysis periodization and preparation, coaching philosophy training load management, and safe sport. There were 17 individuals that participated in the course.

“The course progressed smoothly and the participants showed interest, discipline, and engagement during all sessions," Abdusalamov said. "They actively participated in theoretical discussions and performed well during practical and micro-training tasks. I am confident that the skills they developed will significantly improve the effectiveness of their training work."

Anatolie GUIDEA, one of the coaches who attended the course expressed his appreciation and said, "I greatly appreciated the depth of information on periodization and training load management. The micro-training sessions were especially useful, as they provided clear practical tools that I can apply immediately in my own training environment."

Moldova

The Level 2 referee course was also held and was called Referee Foundations. This course was led by Igor LIGAY (IS Referee and UWW Educator) and included 22 participants.

During the course, the referees went through more advanced scoring situations including risk, out of bounds, takedown and control, and attack vs counter attack. They also worked on strategies for controlling the bout and being a mat chairman. Their training included theoretical and practical sessions.

"All participants actively took part in discussions, successfully handled practical exercises during the competitions, and I am confident that the skills and knowledge they acquired will enhance their effectiveness and raise the overall standard of judging at competitions," Ligay said.

In addition to the courses, Moldova hosted a national competition that was also supported by UWW. This competition featured wrestlers from 26 clubs and included 134 Freestyle wrestlers, 121 Greco-Roman wrestlers, and 27 women wrestlers.