No U23 Worlds participation if ‘even one Iranian wrestler denied US visa,’ Dabir says
Alireza Dabir, the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, said the country would withdraw from the upcoming U23 World Championships in Las Vegas if even one Iranian wrestler is denied an entry visa by the United States.
The 10th edition of the annual showpiece will kick off on October 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where Iran – represented by 20 wrestlers – will look to repeat the 2024 freestyle team title, having finished runner-up to the United States last year, while chasing a fifth Greco-Roman crown – and third in a row – in seven years.
Iranian sport has struggled with entry visa complications for international tournaments in recent years, especially since a military conflict between Iran and a US-Israeli coalition began on February 28.
The Iranian wrestling squad missed out on the 2023 U23 Worlds in Tirana, Albania, due to the same issue, while members of the national team’s support staff were prevented from entering the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June.
In the latest development, Iran’s men’s wheelchair basketball team had to withdraw from the IWBF World Championships in Ottawa earlier in the month after host Canada refused to issue entry visas to head coach Behrouz Soltani and his assistant, Mohammadreza Dastyar.
Dabir said some obstacles had emerged over the issuance of US visas for members of Iran’s delegation, adding that he had decided not to apply for a visa himself because he expected his application to be rejected.
“We have decided that I will not take action to obtain a visa because they probably will not issue one to me. We are waiting for visas to be issued for the other members,” Dabir said.
“As I said before, if a visa is not issued to the members of the team, especially the wrestlers, even one person, we will definitely send neither the freestyle team nor the Greco-Roman team. We have made it clear [to United World Wrestling] and are firmly committed to this decision.”
Despite the uncertainty over Iran’s participation, Dabir said the wrestlers had been working hard in preparation for the event in recent weeks.
“These boys have worked hard and are ready to compete,” said the former world and Olympic champion.
“If the United States wants to win the freestyle competition by any means, then the way to do it is to deny visas to some of our boys,” Dabir said.
“I hope that if the competition is to be held fairly, visas will be issued to all members of our team.”
Las Vegas has also been named the host city of the 2027 Senior World Championships, which will serve as part of the qualification pathway for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Dabir had hinted back in May at launching a petition to strip the United States of hosting next year’s event should Iranian wrestlers be denied entry visas for the upcoming U23 Worlds.
“I told Mr. [Nenad] Lalović that Iran, the United States, and Russia are title rivals, and if the US doesn’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,” Dabir had said of his conversation with the Serbian head of the sport’s international governing body.
“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.”