UWW

UWW Renews Commissions, Committees

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- United World Wrestling announced the renewed Commissions and Committees for the '24 Paris Olympic cycle after the Bureau meeting that was held last week. 

With the recent elections of the Athletes Commission, all continents are represented in the UWW Commissions and an overall increase of women representation amongst the commissions was prevalent in the changesSix Bureau members were elected Commissions presidents, while one was given the responsibility to preside over a Committee.

Daulet Turlykhanov will continue his duty as President of the Scientific Commissions, while Mikhail Mamiashvili will hold the role of the President of the Technical Commission. Stan Dziedzic, together with Don Ryan will preside over the Coaches, while Akhroldjan Ruziev will be in charge of the Media Commission. 

Pedro Gama Filho has assumed a new position as the President of the Marketing Commission. Nataliya Yariguina has been tasked with the continuation of heading the Gender Equality Commission.

The Legal and Ethics Commission will be fronted by Belcho Goranov. Georgy Bryusov will assume the role as the President of the Sport for All Commission, as Dr. Babak Shadgan will serve as the head of the Medical Commission.

For the Refereeing Commission, Antonio Silverstri remains at the helm.

UWW also elected four Committee presidents at the Bureau meeting, starting with Pedro Silva being named the head of the Beach Wrestling Committee. 

Rizvan Bochkaev will be responsible for the Grappling Committee, as Alexei Savchuk was named the President of Pankration while Cholpon Sultanbekova will preside over the Belt Wrestling Committee.

During the meeting, the Bureau also discussed the ongoing plans to start the implementation of the Five-Year Strategic plan presented during the Belgrade Congress. The plan outlined UWW's focus on Youth, Women’s Wrestling, Associated Styles, Image of Wrestling and the Digital Transformation in the Olympic cycle and how to prioritize them at each competition from 2022-'26.

For more details about UWW's Five-Year Strategic Plan, click here or see https://uww.org/organisation/strategy.

COMMISSIONS

Scientific
President: Daulet Turlykhanov (KAZ) 

Dr. David Curby (USA)
Dr. Nabil Hosny Elshorbagy (EGY)
Prof. Jose Maria Lopez Guillon (ESP)
Prof. Dr. Georgii Korobeinikov (UKR)
Prof. Dr. Ümit Karli (TUR)
Dr. Tibor Barna (HUN)
Assist. Prof. Ioannis Barbas (GRE)
Dr. Bahman Mirzaei Ghaziani( IRI)
Assoc. Prof. Mario Baic (CRO)

Legal and Ethics
President: Belcho Goranov (BUL)

Francisco Gonzales Pineda (GUA)
Aurélie Aim-Tuil (FRA)
Michael Smith (CAN)
Roman Kudinov (SUI)
Rouzbeh Vosough Ahmadi (IRI)
Osamu Shimizu (JPN)
Carla Morais (POR)
Laura Peeters (USA)
Houcine Kharrazi (TUN)

Technical 
President: Mikhail Mamiashvili (RUS)

Alin Grigore (ROU)
Finizio Salvatore I(TA)
Peter Bacsi (HUN)
Şeref Eroğlu (TUR)|
Zhang Ye (CHN)
Daniel Igali (NGR)
Paul Ragusa (CAN)
Rich Bender (USA)

Coach
President: Stan Dziedzic USA, with Don Ryan (CAN)

Andras Sike (HUN)
Dr. Mehmet Özal (TUR)
Mindaugas Ežerskis (LTU)
Mohsen Kaveh (IRI)
Paulin Kouakou (CIV)
Yury Shakhmuradov (RUS)
Evangelia Nikolaou (GRE)

Refereeing
President: Antonio Silvestri (GER)

Halil Ibrahim Cicioglu (TUR)
Kamel Bouaziz (TUN)
Cassey Goessl (USA)
Noravard Arustamyan (RUS)
Koike Kuninori (JPN)
Sherif Halawa (EGY)
Carlos García (ESP)
Tsong-rong Jang (TPE)
Stanislav Sernek (SLO)
Ferenc Gyarmati (ROU)
Gary Bird (CAN)
Mohammad Mosalaeipour (IRI)
Rui Marta (POR) (Beach Wrestling)
Vito Paolillo (ITA) (Grappling)

Sport for All
President: Georgy Bryusov (RUS)

Samim Miya Ansari (NEP)
Gérard Santoro (FRA)
Pablo Rubén Pintos Figueroa (ESP)
P.M.D. Sandamali Chandrasena (SRI)
Jean Claude Niyukuri (BDI)
Andy Barth (USA)
Milan Pavelic (CRO)

Marketing
President: Pedro Gama Filho (BRA)

Jean-Carl Fossati (FRA)
Lajos Virág (HUN)|
Morten Sandnæs (NOR)
Prof. Dr. Süleyman Şahin (TUR)
Ali Eftekhari (IRI)
Michael Faller (GER)
Morgan Rabine (USA)
Sahif Mustapha (MAR)
Yury Federov (RUS)

Media
President: Akroldjan Ruziev (UZB)

Didier Favori (FRA)
Ali Feizasa (IRI)
Darren Matte (CAN)
Ikuo Higuchi (JPN)
Przemysław Kaliski (POL)
Taylor Gregorio (USA)
Waffa Fadou (TUN)

Medical
President: Dr Babak Shadgan (CAN)

Dr. Camillieri Gianluca (ITA)
Dr. Mika Lehto (FIN)
Dr. Szabolcs Molnár (HUN)
Dr. Francisco Salvador Lee Guandique (GUA)
Dr. Radivoj Filipov (SRB)
Dr. Loukas Konstantinou (GRE)
Dr Stefan Strugarov (BUL)
Dr. Elena Abaeva (UZB)}
Dr. Dorsaf Methni (TUN)
Dr. Irina Doulepova (RUS)

Gender Equality
President: Nataliya Yariguina (RUS)

Lise Legrand (FRA)
María Teresa Méndez Mayo (ESP)
Milica Vukasinovic Vesic (SRB)
Yareni Guerrero (AUS)
Fatemeh Dearkhshani (IRI)
Rosalie Benie (CIV)
Tamara Medwidsky (CAN)
Eri Tosaka (JPN)
Nikolay Stanchev (BUL)

COMMITTEES

Beach Wrestling
President: Pedro Silva (POR)

Magomed Magdiyev (UKR)
Gabriella Sleisz (HUN)
Mohamed Mahmoud Aly (EGY)
Jian Wang (CHN)
Marian Berbec (ROU)
Konstantinos Papakonstantinou (GRE)
Ed Duncan (USA)
Eugeny Abarius (RUS)

Grappling 
President: Rizvan Bochkaev (RUS)

Antonio Garcia Morales (ESP)
Kanat Alin (KAZ)
Serhiy Cherednichenko (UKR)
Richard Tado (USA)}
Azad Askerov (AZE)

Pankration
President: Alexei Savchuk (BLR)

Anastasia Tukmachova (UKR)}
Italo Morello (ITA)
Konstantin Klimov (RUS)
Edmar Abdoelaev (NED)
Amatto Zaharia (ROU)
Ron Hill (USA)
Pavel Pokatilov (MDA)
Evangelos Koutras (GRE)

Belt Wrestling
President: Cholpon Sultanbekova (KGZ)

Alik Shpekbayev (KAZ)
Edmar Abdoelaev (NED)
Artur Ayramidi (UKR)
Jahja Madjid (INA)
Somayeh Khani Bakhtiari (IRI)
Omarmukhtar Chandpasha Tamboli (IND)
Marian Berbec (ROU)

#WrestleLA

UWW announces new Olympic qualification process for LA 2028

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 2) -- United World Wrestling has overhauled the qualification process for the Olympic Games.

Beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 16 wrestlers who qualify per weight class will earn their spots through four routes: the World Championships, Continental Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the UWW Rankings.

The first phase of qualification will be the 2027 World Championships that will award 72 quotas for the Olympics. Each medalist [gold, silver, two bronzes] in the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn LA 2028 spots for their respective National Olympic Committees (NOC).

The second phase will be the UWW Rankings in which the first three wrestlers of the rankings, not qualified in the first phase, will obtain one quota place for their NOC for the LA28 Olympic Games. The UWW Rankings will include the seven main events organized before the LA28 Olympic Games:

- 2027 Senior Continental Championships*
- 2027 Ranking Series (3 events)
- 2027 Senior World Championships
- 2028 Ranking Series (1 event)
- 2028 Senior Continental Championships*

*UWW may include Continental Games for ranking but will only consider best two out of three continental results.

This means that 54 more wrestlers will earn Olympic quotas for their respective NOCs.

Phase three for qualifying will include the Continental Qualifiers -- Europe, Asia, Pan-America, and Africa & Oceania. These tournaments will award two quotas per weight class.

Top two wrestlers, the finalists, in each of the 18 Olympic weights will earn LA 2028 quotas for respective NOCs. A total of 144 wrestlers will be awarded at these continental events.

The fourth and final phase of qualification will be the World Olympic Qualifier which will offer 18 quotas. The gold medal winners in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn the spot for their respective NOCs.

Only the countries that did not obtain a quota place during the previous three phases may participate in the World Olympic Qualifiers. The participating countries may only send two wrestlers across all styles at the World Qualifier.

For the LA 2028 qualifying cycle, UWW will award quotas at the following events:

4 quotas - 2027 World Championships
3 quotas - Ranking Series UWW Rankings
8 quotas - Continental Qualifiers (2 Europe, 2 Asia, 2 Pan-America, 2 Africa & Oceania)
1 quota - World Olympic Qualifier

Furthermore, the 2028 Continental Championships will be held before the Continental Qualifiers, ensuring that the three quotas via ranking are finalized before continental qualification events begin.

Ranking Series Participation Guidelines

Each country may enter a maximum of two wrestlers per weight class and a two-kilogram weight allowance will apply for Ranking Series events, but not for Continental or World Championships where standard weight rules apply.

The point allocation for these Ranking events will also be reviewed.

Seeding Changes

During the Olympic cycle, seeds will be assigned based on the following event tiers:

Four-seed events:
Continental Championships
Continental Qualifiers
World Qualifier

Eight-seed events:
Ranking Series
World Championships
Olympic Games

Seeding for the 2028 Olympic Games will be based on results from:

- Three 2027 Ranking Series events
- 2027 Continental Championships (or Continental Games, if applicable)
- 2027 World Championships
- One 2028 Ranking Series event
- 2028 Continental Championships

These same events will be used to seed wrestlers throughout the 2028 season, including the Ranking Series, Continental Championships and Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the Olympic Games.

For the 2027 Ranking Series events, 2027 Senior Continental Championships and the 2027 Senior World Championships, the results of 2026 Senior World Championships will also be considered to seed the athletes.

As is the rule, the ranking points obtained at the 2026 Senior World Championships will be removed after the 2027 Senior World Championships.

A key change is that at the Olympic Games, the seed belongs to the country, which keeps the seed even if it replaces the athlete who earned it. In all other events, the seed belongs to the wrestler, and a nation loses that seed if a different athlete competes.

For clarification regarding the new Olympic qualification process, all NFs and NOCs can contact sports@uww.org.