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UWW President Lalovic meets Azerbaijan Economic Minister, federation President Jabbarov

Friday, December 13, 2024 - 11:28 By United World Wrestling Press

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (December 12) -- United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC met with Economic Minister of Azerbaijan Mikayil JABBAROV, who is also the President of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, in Baku on Wednesday.

They were accompanied by Namik ALIYEV, UWW Bureau Member and Gordon TEMPLEMAN, Director of Commercial Operations & Communications at UWW.

The discussions between the two parties revolved around the growth of wrestling in Azerbaijan, Grappling, Pankration, Amateur MMA, and an inaugural pro league in wrestling by UWW.

"We were pleased to meet with Nenad LALOVIC, President of United World Wrestling," Jabbarov wrote in a social media post. "During our discussion, we highlighted the initiatives undertaken to develop wrestling in Azerbaijan, including efforts to train young talents and enhance cooperation to further elevate the professionalism and international achievements of our athletes.

We were pleased to meet with Nenad Lalović, President of United World Wrestling (@wrestling). During our discussion, we highlighted the initiatives undertaken to develop wrestling in #Azerbaijan, including efforts to train young talents and enhance cooperation to further elevate… pic.twitter.com/qtwcY80JS1

— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) December 11, 2024

"We also emphasized that the inclusion of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation in the leadership of UWW’s newly established Committee for Grappling, Pankration, and Amateur MMA reflects the high level of trust placed in our country’s wrestling community."

Azerbaijan has been a hotspot of wrestling and hosted the European Olympic Games Qualifier for the Paris Games in 2024. It also hosted the U23 European Championships and European Grappling Championships. In 2022, it played host to the Greco-Roman World Cup. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Azerbaijan qualified 12 wrestlers and won three bronze medals.

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World C'ships 2026 to be held in October; U20 Worlds in Bratislava

Monday, December 8, 2025 - 07:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 8) -- United World Wrestling has officially confirmed the host city for the 2026 U20 World Championships and finalized the competition dates for the 2026 Senior World Championships.

In addition, the host for 2026 Asian Championships has also been shifted from Amman, Jordan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Bratislava, Slovakia, has been selected to host the 2026 U20 World Championships. Bratislava had successfully hosted the 2025 European Championships in April with sellout stadium. The U20 World Championships in 2026 are scheduled to take place from August 17 to 23 and a similar crowd is expected for the competition.

UWW also confirmed the competition window for the 2026 Senior World Championships to be hosted in Manama, Bahrain, which was announced as hosts during a ceremony held in Zagreb in September.

The World Championships are set to run from October 24 to November 1, providing nine days of action featuring the world’s top wrestlers.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Nenad LALOVIC had said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision."

The Asian Championships, originally scheduled in Amman will now be hosted by Bishkek from April 6 to 12.

The 2026 U15 & U20 Asian Championships have been moved from Bangkok to Pattaya.

The U17, U20 and senior African Championships will be held in Alexandria, Egypt from April 28 to May 3. In addition, the dates for the 2026 Pan-American Championships were also modified. The competition will now be held from May 7 to 10 in Coralville, Iowa, United States.

For the full 2026 calendar, visit uww.org/events.