Development

UWW Renews '22 Referee Scholarship Programme

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 14) -- On behalf of the United World Wrestling Development Department, we are excited to renew the UWW Referee Scholarship Programme 2022.

The scholarship will cover your referee's local costs (full-board basis) and flight tickets to have a chance to attend the needed number of competitions and avoid the risk to be downgraded due to financial difficulties encountered by many national federations.

The offer will not cover the following:
- Visa fees
- Personal expenses

Rules and conditions:
- The scholarship programme is available only for NFs of developing countries with limited financial resources;
- The categories of candidates should be II, I or IS;
- The number of competitions per candidate you can apply is 2;
- The maximum number of candidatures that UWW can submit for the scholarship is 10 (2 competitions) or 15 (1 competition);
- The list of submitted candidates will be made according to the balance between male and female (50/50) in addition to the above-mentioned points. 

Deadline:
In order to confirm your participation, you must complete the enclosed UWW Referees Scholarship Programme Application Form and return it to me as soon as possible, but no later than 31 December 2021

Please be aware that due to a long waiting list, we will not be able to extend this offer after the aforementioned deadline.

We remind that only National Federations can submit the applications for approval. The decision on the applications will be made by Refereeing Commission of UWW no later than 30 January 2022.

#WrestleZagreb

Croatia to host 2025 World Championships, non-Olympic Worlds returns

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 15) -- For the first time in wrestling history, Zagreb, Croatia will host the World Championships in 2025. The mega event will take place in Zagreb from September 13-21.

The United World Wrestling Bureau held a meeting Friday to discuss future hosts and the Senior World Championships 2025 was awarded to Zagreb, a regular on the wrestling calendar for a decade now, hosting the European Championships and the Ranking Series regularly. The Zagreb Open has been the season opener for international wrestling on many occasions.

The World Championships will be another historic event in Croatia’s wrestling journey. In August, the country crowned its first-ever world champion when Veronika VILK (CRO) won the U17 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkiye.

Non-Olympic Worlds in Tirana

The Bureau also decided that a World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes will be held in 2024. The World Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 28 to 31, right after the U23 World Championships which will be held in the same venue from October 21 to 27.

Non-Olympic weights World Championships in Tirana this year will be the first time it will be held since 2016 when Budapest became the host. Tirana will see wrestlers in 12 weight classes -- 61kg, 70kg, 79kg and 92kg in Freestyle; 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg in Women's Wrestling; 55kg, 63kg, 72kg and 82kg in Greco-Roman.

A detailed program of the World Championships will be sent to all National Federations later.