WANA (Nov 01) – After persistent follow-ups by the Iranian Wrestling Federation, the United World Wrestling (UWW) has officially recognized Iran as the team champion of the 2015 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships held in Las Vegas, USA.

 

The decision comes nearly a decade after the disqualification of Russian wrestlers Bilyal Makhov and Abdusalam Gadisov, whose doping tests from the 2015 event returned positive results.

 

Following these revelations, the Iranian Wrestling Federation submitted several formal requests to UWW, urging it to revise the team rankings and officially award Iran the championship title.

 

As a result of these appeals, UWW has now confirmed Iran as the 2015 world champion. The Iranian freestyle team had originally finished second with two silver and two bronze medals, but the team standings were updated after the doping cases, elevating Iran to the top position.

 

The Iranian federation has begun the process of transferring the championship trophy from Russia to Iran.

 

With this update, Iran’s freestyle wrestling team now holds seven world championship titles, while its Greco-Roman team has two.

 

In a historic milestone, both Iran’s freestyle and Greco-Roman teams also secured the championship titles simultaneously at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships in Croatia, winning a combined total of 15 medals — including 6 golds, 4 silvers, and 5 bronzes — marking the first time in history that Iran has claimed dual world titles in both disciplines in the same year.

Iran's Greco-Roman Wrestling. Social media/ WANA News Agency

Iran’s Greco-Roman Wrestling. Social media/ WANA News Agency