UWW Regulations for the Change of Nationality – October 2018 edition
The October 2018 edition of the international regulations on the change of nationality in wrestling; the earliest edition held in this collection, which established the framework of "sporting nationality" and the three-year waiting period.
| Adoption | 18 October 2018 — Bureau of the federation |
| Structure | 15 articles |
| Status | Repealed — superseded by the June 2019 edition |
What are the Regulations for the Change of Nationality in wrestling?
The United World Wrestling (UWW) Regulations for the 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 under 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 October 2018 edition
Features of this edition
- The concept of "sporting nationality"This edition defines sporting nationality as follows: the right granted by the international federation to a wrestler to represent a country of which they do not necessarily hold the citizenship. It thereby distinguishes legal citizenship from sporting affiliation.
- Once during a sporting careerA change of sporting nationality is possible only once during a sporting career, across every age category and every style; the new nationality is final and a return to the previous nationality is not accepted.
- Annual admission limit per countryTo prevent abuse, it was provided that each country may admit only one foreign wrestler per year through a change of nationality.
- Deadline for filing applicationsApplications were accepted only between 1 and 31 December, and the licence issued took effect from 1 January of the following year. Outside that window no change of nationality was approved.
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 under the name of another country — whether a foreign athlete seeking to wrestle for Iran or an Iranian wrestler contemplating a sporting relocation — is assessed against this text. Three points are decisive in practice: the filing deadlines, 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 limits on admitting and releasing athletes are likewise set out in this document. Each case is governed by the edition in force at the time the application was filed.