Iranian wrestlers miss Ivan Yarygin Cup over Russian visa denial
Iran’s freestyle wrestling team has been forced to withdraw from the Ivan Yarygin Cup, which begins today in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, after being denied the entry visa by the host country.
Iran was to dispatch 13 wrestlers to the international tournament – named after late Soviet wrestling great, who won two Olympic gold medals and a world title during his illustrious career in the 1970s.
The visa denial deals another blow to Iranian wrestling as the country’s freestyle and Greco-Roman squads also face uncertainty for the opening Ranking Series event of the season, the Zagreb Open, which starts on February 4. Croatia has yet to issue visas for the Iranian delegation, reportedly due to an internet shutdown within Iran.
The Iranian government restricted internet services on January 8 for security reasons amid recent domestic unrest.
While the United World Wrestling (UWW) unveiled an entry list for the Zagreb Open on Monday that did not include Iranian names, Saied Yousefi, head of international public relations for the Iranian Wrestling Federation, remains optimistic the issue can be resolved before the tournament begins.
Yousefi explained that the omission from the list was a precautionary financial step. “If our wrestlers’ names were entered into the UWW registration system, we would have had to pay approximately €220 per wrestler per day for hotel costs,” he said.
He noted that upon the system’s closure, names are automatically forwarded for hotel reservations. If the team were then unable to travel, the federation would be liable for significant, non-refundable expenses.
“To prevent this, in coordination with United World Wrestling, it was decided that the names would be registered only when the conditions for our wrestlers’ participation are finalized. There is no problem in this regard,” Yousefi added.
The national wrestling federation stated on Monday that, through relevant authorities including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Embassy in Croatia, and UWW, it is actively pursuing the visa issuance process.
Both the Russian and Croatian tournaments were slated to be key stages in the selection process for Iran’s national teams ahead of major upcoming events, including April’s Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as well as the World Championships in Manama and the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in September.