UWW — United World Wrestling

What is UWW?

United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international federation for wrestling, the body Olympedia describes as “the sport’s international governing body”, tracing it through a line of predecessor organisations that began in 1905.^[2] It is a full member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), which lists it among the 30 federations of the summer Olympic sports.^[4]

Its remit is wider than the two Olympic styles. UWW’s own history page records that the federation governs Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling and, over time, added female wrestling, grappling, pankration and belt wrestling;^[1] Olympedia lists the associated styles it oversees as “beach wrestling, Alysh, belt wrestling, grappling, and pankration”.^[2] UWW’s 2026 calendar carries world and continental championships in several of these, from beach wrestling to grappling and AMMA and pankration.^[6]

No text of UWW’s statutes could be retrieved from its website, so its legal form is not given from a primary document, and its seat rests on ASOIF’s and Olympedia’s records.

What does UWW govern or do?

UWW sets the international rules of wrestling in its Olympic and associated styles and sanctions the international calendar: senior and age-group world championships, the continental championships run in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the Ranking Series tournaments, the Beach Wrestling World Series, and the wrestling events of multi-sport Games.^[6] Its results and athlete records sit in the United World Wrestling Database.

For anti-doping, UWW is listed by WADA as a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code, under the heading “ASOIF members”.^[7]

Eligibility of Russian and Belarusian wrestlers is set by UWW’s own decisions. In an article dated 15 May 2026 the federation announced: “United World Wrestling will allow Belarusian and Russian wrestlers to compete without restrictions at upcoming UWW competitions with immediate effect.”^[5] The same article dates the earlier steps: restrictions from March 2022 aligned with IOC recommendations, an eligibility panel from April 2023, updated criteria in September 2024, and removal of the neutral-athlete designation in February 2025, after which athletes competed under the UWW flag. The May 2026 decision authorised national flags, the “RUS” and “BLR” initials and national anthems.^[5]

When was UWW founded and where is it based?

The founding year depends on which predecessor is counted, and the sources say so. UWW’s history page states that “The first International Federation for the development of wrestling and weight lifting was created in Duisburg in 1905”, that “The first International Wrestlers’ Union (Internationaler Ring Verband) was created on the eve of the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912”, and that “The International Amateur Wrestling Federation (IAWF) was thus created during the IOC Olympic Congress in Lausanne in 1921”.^[1] Olympedia’s organisation record gives 1912 in its founding field, while its text states that “The sport’s international governing body was founded as the Amateur-Athleten-Weltunion in 1905” and dates FILA, also known as the IAWF, to the 1921 Lausanne congress.^[2] ASOIF also gives 1912.^[3]

The renamings are dated differently by the two sources for one step. Olympedia records the name International Federation of Amateur Wrestling “From 1952 onwards”; UWW’s history page places that renaming at the congress in Tokyo in 1954.^[1][2] Both record the 1994 change to Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles), and Olympedia records that in September 2014 the federation “re-branded itself as United World Wrestling (UWW)”.^[2]

UWW’s history page records that the FILA headquarters moved to Lausanne under president Roger Coulon in 1965.^[1] Today ASOIF lists the address as Rue du Château 6, 1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, and Olympedia also places the headquarters in Corsier-sur-Vevey.^[2][3]

How is UWW recognised?

IOC. Wrestling is an Olympic sport and UWW is the federation for it: Olympedia records that men’s wrestling was part of the first modern Games, “at Athinai 1896”, that women entered the Olympic programme at Athinai 2004, and that wrestling has been on the Youth Olympic programme since Singapore 2010.^[2] The year in which the IOC first recognised the federation could not be established from a retrieved primary source; UWW’s history page states that the creation of the IAWF in 1921 “legitimized wrestling towards the IOC”.^[1]

ASOIF. UWW is one of the 30 full members listed by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, and its ASOIF profile gives “Member Since: 1983”.^[3][4]

WADA. WADA’s list of Code signatories includes “United World Wrestling (UWW)” among the international federations that are ASOIF members.^[7]

Multi-sport Games. UWW’s 2026 calendar includes the wrestling events of the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Mediterranean Games, the South American Games, the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya (30 September – 3 October 2026) and the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar (7–8 November 2026).^[6] For the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes, UWW’s decision of 15 May 2026 governs its own competitions.^[5]

What does UWW organise?

World Championships. Olympedia dates the first, unofficial, world Greco-Roman championship to 1904 in Vienna; women wrestlers first competed at the World Championships in 1987 in Lørenskog, Norway; and the 2005 edition was the first to stage men’s and women’s competitions at the same venue.^[2] The World Wrestling Championships are held at senior and age-group levels. UWW’s 2026 calendar lists the U17 World Championships in Baku (27 July – 2 August), the U20 World Championships in Bratislava (17–23 August) and the U17 Beach Wrestling World Championships in Baku (27 August), all completed by 30 September 2026.^[6] The 2026 senior World Championships were set for Manama, Bahrain, from 24 October to 1 November, as USA Wrestling reported in December 2025;^[8] in May 2026 FloWrestling reported that UWW had postponed them and would move them from Bahrain,^[9] and a FloSports report of 28 September 2026 gives Astana, Kazakhstan, 24 October – 1 November 2026, stating that “United World Wrestling selected Astana as the replacement host city”.^[10] The Astana host rests on that single secondary report.

Ranking Series. The same calendar lists Ranking Series tournaments across the season, among them the Zagreb Open (4–8 January 2026), the Muhamet Malo tournament in Tirana, the Ulaanbaatar Open (4–7 June) and the Polyák Imre, Varga János & Kozma István Memorial in Budapest (15–19 July).^[6]

Other series and styles. Beach Wrestling World Series stages ran in 2026 in Da Nang, Poreč, Batumi and Baku, alongside continental championships in grappling, AMMA and pankration and belt wrestling.^[6]

Games. UWW runs the wrestling tournaments of the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games; the Asian Games wrestling programme in Aichi-Nagoya begins on 30 September 2026, and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games follow in November.^[6]

Who are its members?

UWW’s members are national wrestling federations. Two independent counts differ: Olympedia states that “As of January 2026, the UWW has 246 member federations from 190 countries or territories”,^[2] while UWW’s ASOIF member profile gives 180 national associations.^[3] UWW’s own member list could not be retrieved to settle the figure.

Member federations are grouped by continent, and UWW’s 2026 calendar shows continental championships for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.^[6] The continental bodies include United World Wrestling Europe and United World Wrestling Americas. National members include USA Wrestling and the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation.

The Russian and Belarusian federations’ athletes compete in UWW events without restrictions from 15 May 2026, with national flags, the “RUS” and “BLR” initials and national anthems, under UWW’s decision of that date.^[5]