UWW International Rules for change of nationality 2019
- Adopted
- 2019/06/29
June 2019 edition; it set out the nationality rules for Olympic qualification events in detail, stage by stage, within the text itself, and clarified the position for multi-sport events.
| Adoption | 29 June 2019 — Bureau of the Federation |
| Structure | 15 articles |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the November 2025 edition |
What are the International Rules for Change of Nationality in wrestling?
United World Wrestling's rules on change of nationality determine which country a wrestler represents in international competition and the conditions under which that affiliation may be changed. The governing criterion is the athlete's international licence, issued by the international federation; that licence identifies the country the wrestler represents. Any wrestler who has once competed representing a country in an event on the international federation's calendar must go through this procedure in order to compete in the name of another country — and that change is possible only once during a sporting career and does not permit a return to the previous affiliation.
About the June 2019 editionChanges from October 2018
Key changes from the previous edition
- Nationality rules at the Olympic qualification stagesA new section was added determining the wrestler's position separately at each of the first, second and third stages of the Olympic qualification events. At all three stages, holding a valid passport of the new country is mandatory.
- Separation of qualification events held under the international federationIt was made explicit that whenever the international federation's own events — such as continental championships — serve as a qualification competition, the international federation's rules govern, not those of the organising body.
- Definition of an "international tournament"An international tournament was defined as all competitions registered on the federation's calendar, with the exception of the World Championships, the continental championships and the Olympic qualification events — a distinction that determines which nationality rule applies to which event.
- Multi-sport eventsAs regards competitions held under major event organisers, the wording was simplified to "multi-sport games and the like", and it remained provided that the rules of the organising body apply.
Who this document matters to
This is among the most frequently applied wrestling regulations in sports law practice: every case concerning a wrestler who intends to compete in the name of another country — whether a foreign athlete seeking to wrestle for Iran or an Iranian wrestler intending to move abroad in sporting terms — is assessed against this text. Three points are decisive in practice: the deadlines for submitting the application, the three-year waiting period and the possibility of reducing it, and the discretion of the releasing federation to consent or object. For national federations, the annual ceiling on admitting and releasing athletes is likewise fixed in this document. Each case is governed by the edition that was in force at the time the application was submitted.