Iran wrestling news

[bnwtwg]

As of October 2024 it is three years according to the rule book, but there is the ability to be adjusted [reasons are intentionally undefined]. Below is the full Change of Nationality handbook along with key articles:

https://cdn.uww.org/2024-11/change_of_nationality_regulation_eng_oct2024_final.pdf

 

4.2 A wrestler who has represented one country in any competition under the authority of UWW as
defined in article 2, or in Olympic, Continental or Regional games, and who has changed his
nationality or acquired a new nationality, may participate in any competition under the authority of
UWW to represent his new country provided that at least three (3) years have passed since the
wrestler last represented his former country in Continental or World Championships, Ranking Series,
Cups, or in Olympic, Continental or Regional Games.
This period may be reduced or even cancelled, with the agreement of the National Federations
concerned, by the UWW Bureau, which takes into account the circumstances of each case.

 

4.5 A wrestler who wishes to change his nationality shall send a request in writing, through his national
federation, to UWW in the period between the 1st of October to the 20th of December. No change of
nationality will be granted by United World Wrestling outside this period.
Notwithstanding the conditions listed hereunder, the authorization for the change of nationality will
be effective from 1 January of the following year.

 

Article 8 – Participation in competition [this is a VERY IMPORTANT section intended to curtail mercenary transfers]

1. In order to prevent any abuse, for the years 2025 and 2026, a country may only participate in a
competition under the authority of UWW, such as Continental or World Championships, with a
maximum of two (2) wrestlers who changed their nationality, providing they enter at least the same
number of wrestlers who did not change their nationality, per style, per age category and per event.
2. In order to prevent any abuse, for the years 2027 and 2028, a country may only participate in a
competition under the authority of UWW, such as Continental or World Championships, with a
2 Or any official equivalent system. In case a National Federation does not have a licensing system, the participation by
the athlete in three competitions sanctioned by another NF in the past 5 years shall be considered as equivalent.
7
maximum of two (2) wrestlers who changed their nationality, providing they enter at least two (2)
times the number of wrestlers who did not change their nationality, per style, per age category and
per event.
3. In order to prevent any abuse, for the year 2029 and following years, a country may only participate
in a competition under the authority of UWW, such as Continental or World Championships, or Ranking
Series events, with a maximum of one (1) wrestler who changed their nationality, providing they
enter at least four (4) times the number of wrestlers who did not change their nationality, per style,
per age category and per event.
4. In order to prevent any abuse, for the year 2027 and 2028, a country may only participate in any
Olympic qualification event with a maximum of two (2) wrestlers who changed their nationality, per
style and considering all Olympic qualification events.
5. In order to prevent any abuse, for the year 2029 and following years, a country may only participate
in any Olympic qualification event with a maximum of one (1) wrestler who changed their nationality,
per style and considering all Olympic qualification events.
6. In order to prevent any abuse, any federation of origin can only allow a maximum of three (3) males
and three (3) female changes of nationality, per year, considering all styles and all age groups.

[Shibboleth]

https://sportaran.com/en/post/otec-amirreza-masumi-pomimo-armenii-est-i-drugie-varianty/

 

Quote

Earlier, Sportaran.com reported on the intention of Iranian freestyle wrestler Amirreza Masoumi (125 kg) to change his sporting citizenship and compete for Armenia. However, it turns out that the 20-year-old athlete has received other offers as well.

The Iranian portal Varzesh3 contacted the wrestler’s father, Fardin Masoumi, who himself previously competed for the Iranian national team. He confirmed that his son is indeed planning to switch countries but that no final decision has been made yet.

"For now, we cannot say anything definitive. Besides Armenia, there are two other serious offers. We need to carefully discuss all options with Amirreza," said Fardin Masoumi.

According to some reports, Azerbaijan has also made an offer to Masoumi.

Why Does Masoumi Want to Leave the Iranian National Team?
Despite impressive success at the junior and youth levels (including world championship gold), Masoumi has been unable to secure a permanent spot in Iran’s main lineup. The primary reason is fierce competition from the team’s current leader, Amir Hossein Zare—a two-time world champion and Olympic medalist.

The situation escalated after Masoumi’s recent loss in the final of the prestigious Takhti Cup, where the judging sparked controversy. This episode may have been the final straw, pushing the wrestler to consider switching national teams.

According to Varzesh3, Masoumi did not attend the Iranian national team’s training camp despite being invited and instead traveled to Yerevan.

To switch national teams, Masoumi will need official approval from the Iranian Wrestling Federation. If denied, he would have to observe a two- or three-year waiting period from his last appearance for Iran.

Clearly, the wrestler’s main goal is the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. And if qualifying with Iran seems extremely difficult, changing citizenship could be his chance to fulfill his Olympic dream.

An official announcement remains pending. Sportaran.com will continue to monitor developments.

It is worth noting that the Armenian national team currently lacks a primary representative in the super heavyweight freestyle wrestling category and is in need of reinforcement.

At the 2025 European Championships in the 125 kg weight class, Armenia had no representative, and at the 2024 tournament, Leva Gevorgyan competed but lost in the first bout. In the 2021, 2022, and 2023 European Championships, Armenia also had no wrestlers in this weight category.

 

[Truzzcat]

Saw a conversation on Twitter about how many world champs Iran would have this year.

In descending order of confidence

-Zare
-Nohkodi (I just think he is the best guy when he puts it all together)
-Ghasempour (I dont think he will be able to handle the cut but if he does, he is certainly the favorite)
-Firouz
-Amouzad (Again feel like he is the best guy but he seems very different day 2 at scratch weight vs +2kg)

 

[shiraz321]

2 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

Saw a conversation on Twitter about how many world champs Iran would have this year.

In descending order of confidence

-Zare
-Nohkodi (I just think he is the best guy when he puts it all together)
-Ghasempour (I dont think he will be able to handle the cut but if he does, he is certainly the favorite)
-Firouz
-Amouzad (Again feel like he is the best guy but he seems very different day 2 at scratch weight vs +2kg)

 

I think Zare has been Iran's best gold hope for a while. In fact it was interesting to read that  even going back to the Tokyo Olympics the coaches considered him the best chance for gold out of the entire Iranian wrestling team, freestyle and greco. He'd never even made a world team at that point. He just doesn't seem able to win the gold in back to back years. 

Edited Tuesday at 03:27 PM by shiraz321

[Lucho]

17 hours ago, Shibboleth said:

https://sportaran.com/en/post/otec-amirreza-masumi-pomimo-armenii-est-i-drugie-varianty/

 

 

Realistically I doubt Dabir will let him leave unless the federation gets some sort of compensation. Masoumi isn't Ali Arsalan he is arguably top 2 or at the very least top 3 125kg in the world. If he does leave he will be out of competition for 2-3 years. In wrestling that's a long time and there's no guarantee he will be able to win medals once he can come back. We've seen it with Gable Steveson. This sport doesn't wait for anyone.

[Lucho]

15 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

Saw a conversation on Twitter about how many world champs Iran would have this year.

In descending order of confidence

-Zare
-Nohkodi (I just think he is the best guy when he puts it all together)
-Ghasempour (I dont think he will be able to handle the cut but if he does, he is certainly the favorite)
-Firouz
-Amouzad (Again feel like he is the best guy but he seems very different day 2 at scratch weight vs +2kg)

 

At 79kg I would say Akhmed Usmanov is the best and 65kg Mammedov/Kiyooka are the best guys. I only really see 125kg, 92kg and 86kg as weights we can realistically win gold in. 

[nhs67]

7 hours ago, Lucho said:

Realistically I doubt Dabir will let him leave unless the federation gets some sort of compensation. Masoumi isn't Ali Arsalan he is arguably top 2 or at the very least top 3 125kg in the world. If he does leave he will be out of competition for 2-3 years. In wrestling that's a long time and there's no guarantee he will be able to win medals once he can come back. We've seen it with Gable Steveson. This sport doesn't wait for anyone.

There are criteria for compensation in the transfer package.

Unfortunately for Massoumi his U20, U23, and Asian Games medals go against him for transferring, as I believe that puts his buyout at something like $510K ($300k plus  plus 10% to UWW.

Fortunately for Masoumi, this would make him eligible for 2028, which puts him at the Olympics for Armenia.  I believe that is the end-goal.

He would be able to wrestle at events like the Bill Farrell, but he wouldn't be able to wrestle at UWW events (ranking series, continental championships, Olympic qualifiers, etc.).

That is all if it goes by the button.  There might be some sort of waiver process to get him to compete sooner, I don't know.

Now were he to wait for the end of 2026 to apply rather than 2025, compensation would be like $15k, but he would not be eligible for the Olympic games in 2028.

Also, the amount is USD I listed, it's CHF, which is like 1.1-1, meaning over $600k USD as of right now.

[Irani]

IWF has stated they will not approve such a transfer.

i am not clear on the rules, if Iran does not approve it, is that the end?

[CHROMEBIRD]

5 hours ago, nhs67 said:

There are criteria for compensation in the transfer package.

Unfortunately for Massoumi his U20, U23, and Asian Games medals go against him for transferring, as I believe that puts his buyout at something like $510K ($300k plus  plus 10% to UWW.

Fortunately for Masoumi, this would make him eligible for 2028, which puts him at the Olympics for Armenia.  I believe that is the end-goal.

He would be able to wrestle at events like the Bill Farrell, but he wouldn't be able to wrestle at UWW events (ranking series, continental championships, Olympic qualifiers, etc.).

That is all if it goes by the button.  There might be some sort of waiver process to get him to compete sooner, I don't know.

Now were he to wait for the end of 2026 to apply rather than 2025, compensation would be like $15k, but he would not be eligible for the Olympic games in 2028.

Also, the amount is USD I listed, it's CHF, which is like 1.1-1, meaning over $600k USD as of right now.

I believe the training & dev fee is based only on the athlete's best result on the pay scale, and is not additive. Like if a wrestler wins gold at U17s (CHF 150'000) and later wins gold at their Continental championship (CHF 100'000), the total compensation fee would be something like CHF 150'000 + CHF 15'000 (10% UWW fee) + ~CHF 4'000 (administrative fees to UWW/former federation) = CHF 169'000. Unless I'm missing something, it's the same fee whether the wrestler transfers today or 10 years from now, as long as they're still competing at the Senior level, and can only go up if they finish at Worlds or Continentals at a higher level in the UWW pay scale.

[nhs67]

58 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

I believe the training & dev fee is based only on the athlete's best result on the pay scale, and is not additive. Like if a wrestler wins gold at U17s (CHF 150'000) and later wins gold at their Continental championship (CHF 100'000), the total compensation fee would be something like CHF 150'000 + CHF 15'000 (10% UWW fee) + ~CHF 4'000 (administrative fees to UWW/former federation) = CHF 169'000. Unless I'm missing something, it's the same fee whether the wrestler transfers today or 10 years from now, as long as they're still competing at the Senior level, and can only go up if they finish at Worlds or Continentals at a higher level in the UWW pay scale.

I see where it wouldn't be cumulative.  It does explicitly state that includes everything from that year and the prior calendar year, though.  Meaning If he waited for 2026, he wouldn't have to pay for 2024, just 2025/2026.

[Lucho]

5 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

I believe the training & dev fee is based only on the athlete's best result on the pay scale, and is not additive. Like if a wrestler wins gold at U17s (CHF 150'000) and later wins gold at their Continental championship (CHF 100'000), the total compensation fee would be something like CHF 150'000 + CHF 15'000 (10% UWW fee) + ~CHF 4'000 (administrative fees to UWW/former federation) = CHF 169'000. Unless I'm missing something, it's the same fee whether the wrestler transfers today or 10 years from now, as long as they're still competing at the Senior level, and can only go up if they finish at Worlds or Continentals at a higher level in the UWW pay scale.

I didn't know UWW had a process for this. However, I don't see Iran letting Masoumi leave without him renouncing his citizenship or something drastic even if Armenia or whichever country gives them some cash under the table. Ghasempour didn't do that when he was behind Yazdani at 86kg. Also with UWW tightening the regulations for 2028 and beyond I doubt there would be many countries he could realistically join, Bahrain already has Tazhudinov and he is around Masoumi's age. Azerbaijan have 95 transfers already so its either Qatar or Armenia that realistically could sign him.

[Irani]

According to the attached, he has offers from both Armenia and Azerbajan.

also according to the attached, Iran must approve such a transfer, and so far they have said they are not going to allow it

https://www.khabarvarzeshi.com/news/509689/کشتی-گیر-جوان-ایران-در-دوراهی-مخالفت-فدراسیون-با-تغییر-تابعیت

[Husker_Du]

On 5/29/2025 at 1:46 AM, shiraz321 said:

Yes, Hassan Yazdani is technically correct. Cherat is a place in Mazandaran that I believe his parents or grandparents are from and it would not really be used when referring to him in Iran. But I do think it's cool that @Husker_Du calls him Cherati, lol. 

I always called him Cherati to differentiate from Reza.

mfers need to respect The Leopard of Juybar 

[Irani]

So this article clarifies the rules for me

if the Iranian wrestling federation approves the transfer, Massoumi can wrestle for Armenia immediately 

If they don’t, he can forget about wrestling for three years.

As of now, IWF says they have to intention of granting permission.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0Ii7jIbk4/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

[nhs67]

40 minutes ago, Irani said:

So this article clarifies the rules for me

if the Iranian wrestling federation approves the transfer, Massoumi can wrestle for Armenia immediately 

If they don’t, he can forget about wrestling for three years.

As of now, IWF says they have to intention of granting permission.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0Ii7jIbk4/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Did you mean no?

[GrandOlm]

1 hour ago, Irani said:

So this article clarifies the rules for me

if the Iranian wrestling federation approves the transfer, Massoumi can wrestle for Armenia immediately 

If they don’t, he can forget about wrestling for three years.

As of now, IWF says they have to intention of granting permission.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0Ii7jIbk4/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

There has to be an out. Or Russia would have blocked most of these transfers. 3 years in the grand scheme of things would be nothing. Masoumi would be 23? That's super young for a heavyweight. 

[GrandOlm]

On 6/10/2025 at 11:32 PM, Lucho said:

Realistically I doubt Dabir will let him leave unless the federation gets some sort of compensation. Masoumi isn't Ali Arsalan he is arguably top 2 or at the very least top 3 125kg in the world. If he does leave he will be out of competition for 2-3 years. In wrestling that's a long time and there's no guarantee he will be able to win medals once he can come back. We've seen it with Gable Steveson. This sport doesn't wait for anyone.

I don't think it's that long. He's 21 now. So he'd be 24 when he comes back. That's still young, especially for a heavyweight. I can't think of any heavyweight  who was medalist level at 21 (like he is now) and then wasn't in his mid 20s, barring extreme injuries. 

Gable wasn't training  full time and we don't really know if he could have won a medal since he never committed to being  a world teamer again. He crushed Mason Parris the same year that Mason who won a Bronze medal at worlds, so evidence points to him being world level medal, but choosing not to participate. Masoumi will presumably be training FS full time during his 3 year hiatus, I'd think. 

What's the alternative, trying to age out Zare who is in his mid 20s? That might take forever and rob Masoumi of a career. No one is going to care about your loyalty when you're in your late 30s and have no world level medals to show for it. The nice jobs and perks will go to people like Zare, who have medals. 

[GrandOlm]

Yasmani Acosta transfered. He is now an Olympics Silver medalist and a World Bronze medalist. No one would know his name if he stayed in Cuba. He probably secured a nice pension with that Silver medal. 

If wrestling has this silly structure, that the theoretical second best in the world can't compete, then it's not the athletes who are the problem. 

[Irani]

2 hours ago, nhs67 said:

Did you mean no?

Yes, sorry for the typo 

[Shibboleth]

2 hours ago, GrandOlm said:

There has to be an out. Or Russia would have blocked most of these transfers. 3 years in the grand scheme of things would be nothing. Masoumi would be 23? That's super young for a heavyweight. 

Of course there's an out in case of Russia. How do you think Mamiashvili got his house, car, etc? You pay the bribe to your former federation so they sign off on your transfer. It's an open secret.

[Irani]

I assume the out is for Armenia to offer a price to pay the IWF that is too good to say no to.

I wish the qualifications were by individual instead of by country

iran would have no one at 57 and two at other weights 

[CHROMEBIRD]

If he wrestles for Armenia, will he change his last name to Masoumian?