Wrestling ‘Individual WC’ to be organised in lieu of 2020 World C’ships

UWW had set a benchmark requiring that at least 8 of 10 of the top nations from the 2019 World Championships, and 70 per cent of total athletes, participate in 2020. With many nations reinstating travel restrictions

Corsier-Sur-Vevey: The United World Wrestling has decided to organise an ‘Individual World Cup’ as a substitute event for the ‘World Championships which could not be hosted this year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

In a media release, UWW said that national federations had been given time until November 5 to confirm their interest in participating at the 2020 World Championships.

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“UWW had set a benchmark requiring that at least 8 of 10 of the top nations from the 2019 World Championships, and 70 per cent of total athletes, participate in 2020. With many nations reinstating travel restrictions in response to Covid-19 the participation hurdles were not met,” said UWW on Tuesday.

The ‘Individual World Cup’ will be held in Belgrade and the dates of the competition will be announced in the coming days. The event will include a prize pool of 300,000 Swiss Franc spread evenly across the 30 weight categories.

“We want to see our athletes compete again on the mat. It’s important to our organisation and we are committed to providing them an opportunity,” said UWW president Nenad Lalovic.

“There are real challenges to overcome, but we are working together to find a safe and acceptable format where our top athletes can compete in a world class event,” he added.

UWW further informed that the Ordinary Congress and elections have been postponed to 2021, but the World Wrestling End of Year Conference will be organised as a virtual event.