Dabir hints at petition to move 2027 Wrestling Worlds from Las Vegas
Alireza Dabir, the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, has said he might launch a petition to strip the United States of hosting the 2027 Senior World Championships should Iranian wrestlers be denied entry visas for the upcoming U23 Worlds – starting October 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Las Vegas has also been named the host city of next year’s Senior World Championships, which will serve as part of the qualification pathway for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Iranian sport has struggled with entry visa complications in recent years, especially since a military conflict between Iran and a U.S.-Israeli coalition began on February 28.
With the FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, less than three weeks away, questions remain as to whether all members of the Iranian squad will be able to take part in Team Melli’s Group G campaign in Los Angeles and Seattle.
Meanwhile, the Iranian weightlifting squad had to make a late arrival in Ismailia, Egypt, for the World Junior Championships earlier in May after a visa delay threatened to derail their men’s title defense, while the country’s fencing team was ruled out of Friday’s Saber World Cup in Cairo for the same reason.
“I told the United World Wrestling president that Iran, the United States, and Russia are title rivals. If they want to deplete our squad to make us lose to them, it’s not acceptable,” Dabir said this week, recounting his recent conversation with Serbian Nenad Lalović, the head of the sport’s international governing body, regarding Iran’s participation in October’s U23 event.
“In football, if two players are missing the team might suffer, but two others could still step in and replace them. In wrestling, however, if a 10-man team is reduced to eight, it means losing 50 points in the title race, and there’s no way Iran can finish first,” added the former world and Olympic champion.
Iran won the Greco-Roman team trophy while finishing runner-up to the U.S. in freestyle at last year’s U23 Worlds in Novi Sad, Serbia, having missed the 2024 edition in Tirana due to visa denials by Albania.
“Let me give you an example. Sajjad Gholami fell ill at the U23 World Championships in 2022, and based on the team doctor’s recommendation, he received an injection. The president of the American federation protested, and Gholami was disqualified. That single decision cost our team the freestyle title, and we finished second. That’s just how strict they were on the issue, so why should we go easy on visas?” Dabir added.
“That’s what I told Mr. Lalović: If they don’t want to grant us visas this year, they will do the same again to Iranian and Russian wrestlers for the 2027 Senior Worlds, leaving the Americans with an easy path to secure Olympic berths while we chase quotas in other tournaments.
“I’m concerned they are planning to do the same to us for the Olympics. We have been in these circumstances for three years now, and I know exactly how they operate.
“I said, if that’s the case, we should submit a petition to change the 2027 host, just like the 2026 event was moved from Bahrain. We are seriously pursuing this. If our U23 team doesn’t receive full visas, I will be among those speaking with other federations to collect signatures to move the 2027 Worlds to another country. That event has Olympic quotas, and we cannot afford to jeopardize our young athletes’ careers.”
The UWW confirmed on Friday that Astana, Kazakhstan, will host the 2026 Senior World Championships—originally scheduled to take place in Manama—from October 24 to November 1, citing the “current geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing uncertainty and impact on international travel” in the region.