Obituary

UWW Hall of Fame, former Medical Commission chair Tavakol passes away

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 29) -- Dr. Mohammad TAVAKOL, a former member of the United World Wrestling Bureau and Hall of Famer, passed away in Tehran at the age of 89 after a period of illness.

Born in 1923 in Qazvin, Iran, Tavakol chaired the Iranian Wrestling Federation and was the Vice President of the UWW. He also held membership in the Executive Committee of the UWW and was the chairman of the Medical Commission of UWW. He was inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tavakol graduated in medicine from the University of Tehran and studied in England for his specialization. He began his wrestling career under the supervision of the late Habibollah BOLOUR, the former head coach of the national Iranian wrestling team.

Tavakol served four six-year terms as a member of the Executive Committee of the UWW and was elected as the head of the UWW Asia for a four-year term. He had a significant impact on medical coverage of wrestling competitions during his role as the head of the Medical and Anti-Doping Commission.

UWW mourns the passing of Dr. Tavakol and expresses deepest sympathies to the Tavakol family.

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UWW, ICSD sign four-year MoU to promote wrestling

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (November 15) -- United World Wrestling and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) took a significant step to promote wrestling, signing a four-year Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday.

The MoU will enable both organizations to work together to help and assist deaf wrestlers around the world to take up, participate, and develop in wrestling.

Both UWW and ICSD will also work to develop wrestling for deaf women, search for common strategies, and establish actions to preserve wrestling against the dangers of doping and violence. UWW has also agreed to collaborate for the training of officials.

As the Deaflympics, World Championships, and other tournaments are already in place, UWW will, in the future, appoint a referee delegate for the aforementioned tournaments. Moreover, UWW and ICSD will collaborate in organizing clinics and seminars for coaches, trainers, and referees during ICSD competitions.

The two organizations will place special importance will be placed to improving the quality of the practice of wrestling and establishing a referee training policy for deaf environments.

According to the signed MoU, ICSD competitions will be integrated into the UWW international calendar, UWW will establish the program of the competitions and grant, upon adherence to the regulations in force, a UWW permit for the Summer
Deaflympics and all deaf championships.

In an effort to integrate, all wrestlers participating in ICSD competitions will be encouraged to have a valid UWW license for the current year, which will also provide insurance in case of an accident. If a wrestler does not have a UWW license, it is the respective ICSD Member Nation's responsibility to get the insurance of the wrestler, as UWW will not bear any kind of responsibility whatsoever in case of an accident.

All ICSD Member Nations will be made aware of the convention by ICSD while UWW commits itself to implement the necessary means towards the promotion of wrestling in Deaf Sports structures through its national federations.