<p class="reg-lead">Current edition, in force from 25 November 2025; for the first time it imposes an annual cap on the releasing federation, moves the application window to 1 October–20 December, and requires the international federation to decide within ninety days.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>In force from</td><td><b>25 November 2025</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Publication</td><td>United World Wrestling — November 2025 edition</td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>10 articles together with a definitions section</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td><strong>Current edition</strong> — governing applications submitted from 25 November 2025</td></tr>
</table>
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<h2>What are the Change of Nationality Regulations in wrestling?</h2>
<p>The United World Wrestling (UWW) Change of Nationality Regulations 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 events on the international federation's calendar must go through this procedure in order to compete for another country — and that change is possible only once during a sporting career and does not permit a return to the previous affiliation.</p>
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<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>About the November 2025 edition<span class="reg-tag">Changes from June 2019</span></h2>
<h3>Key changes from the previous edition</h3>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Annual cap for the releasing federation</b>The newest and most significant restriction in this edition. Until now only the host federation was subject to a cap; now <strong>each releasing federation may consent to a maximum of three changes of nationality for men and three for women per year</strong>, across all styles and all age categories. The text states expressly that this decision lies <strong>entirely within the discretion of the releasing federation</strong>, that the international federation plays no part in it, and that a refusal by the releasing federation provides no basis for any claim against the international federation.</li>
<li><b class="t">The host federation's cap, now split by gender</b>The host federation may accept <strong>one foreign wrestler of each gender per year</strong>; previously the cap was one person per year without distinction by gender.</li>
<li><b class="t">Application window: 1 October to 20 December</b>The application submission window, previously <strong>1 to 31 December</strong>, has changed to <strong>1 October to 20 December</strong> — that is, it opens earlier and closes earlier. The licence, as before, takes effect from 1 January of the following year.</li>
<li><b class="t">Ninety-day deadline for the international federation</b>For the first time the international federation is required to determine an application <strong>within ninety days of receiving a complete file</strong>. A file is considered complete once all necessary documents have reached the federation's office.</li>
<li><b class="t">New and defined terminology</b>The text has acquired a definitions section: <strong>Host federation</strong>, <strong>Releasing federation</strong>, <strong>national wrestler</strong> and <strong>naturalised wrestler</strong>. The expression "sporting nationality" has also been simplified to "nationality" throughout the text.</li>
<li><b class="t">A separate route for veterans</b>A lighter procedure is provided for the veterans category: an application is accepted <strong>at any time of year</strong> and at least <strong>45 days before the Veterans Championships</strong>, only the host federation's application and the releasing federation's consent are required, and <strong>the three-year rule does not apply to veterans</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Flexibility for youth categories</b>The three-year waiting period may still be reduced or waived by agreement of the two federations and a decision of the Executive Board; in addition, for <strong>wrestlers aged fifteen at the time of the application</strong>, or those whose only record of participation with the releasing federation was in the under-fifteen category, that decision is taken by a simpler route.</li>
<li><b class="t">Olympic competitions referred to the Olympic Charter</b>The detailed, step-by-step section on Olympic qualification rules added in the 2019 edition has been removed and replaced by a short reference: <strong>at the Olympic Games and their qualifying competitions, the rules of the Olympic Charter govern</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Training compensation</b>The releasing federation may claim <strong>training compensation</strong> and an administrative fee on the basis of a scale set out in these regulations.</li>
</ol>
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<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>This is one of the most frequently applied wrestling regulations in sports law practice: any case concerning a wrestler who intends to compete for 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 application deadlines, the three-year waiting period and the possibility of reducing it, and the releasing federation's discretion to consent or refuse. For national federations, the annual caps on accepting 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 submitted.</p>
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Notes related to the tag nationality

UWW Change of Nationality Regulations November 2025