The 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade will have three nations competing under the neutral banner, including India and two others.
A further setback occurred when the United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s global governing body, suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for failing to hold elections on time.
Indian wrestlers would now be required to compete at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, under a neutral flag (AIN). This follows a warning from the UWW to WFI in a statement dated May 30.
“UWW will request further information about the next elective general assembly from the IOA and the Ad-hoc Committee of the WFI. The 45-day deadline that was initially set to hold this elective assembly shall be respected.
Failing to do so may lead UWW to suspend the federation, thereby forcing the athletes to compete under a neutral flag. It is reminded that UWW already took a measure in this situation by reallocating the Asian Championship planned in New Delhi earlier this year”, UWW had earlier said in that statement.
There are other countries besides just India that will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN). At the U-17 European Championships in Tirana (Albania), in June, they will be competing alongside Russia and Belarus, who made a comeback to international play.
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two nations were forbidden. Four athletes from Belarus and Russia were excluded from the U-17 European Championships.
Individual Neutral Athletes were graded based on their performance during the competition but were not permitted to wear their respective national anthems or flags. They weren’t ranked for the team rankings.
Wrestlers will have the opportunity to win 90 quotas for the 2024 Summer Olympics in the upcoming World Championships, which will take place from September 16 to 24.
For freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling, the quotas are 30 each. There will be six weight classes for the Olympic quotas: 50 kg, 53 kg, 57 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg, and 76 kg.
Four non-Olympic weight classes (55 kg, 59 kg, 65 kg, and 72 kg) will also be competed in. Olympic qualification will not be impacted by placements in these categories.
A wrestler’s country will be guaranteed a spot in Paris if they win a gold, silver, or bronze medal in one of the six Olympic weight categories.
Additionally, two wrestlers who finish second and third in the bronze medal matches will wrestle it out to secure the fifth quota.
