The 20th season of the Iranian wrestling premier league will kick off from October 1 and wrestlers are excited for it. The Iran wrestling had given a green signal for hosting the league in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling styles. The decision has been welcomed by both athletes and coaches as it was a big source of their income. Mohammad Bana, head coach of freestyle wrestling said, “I am very happy that after such a long break, we will soon again see the championship. I am grateful to the federation for their efforts,” he said.
“The resumption of the championship will benefit the wrestlers, as without competitions there is no way to measure our progress. Wrestling is very important for our country, and we must do everything to keep it that way. Also, the resumption of the league will help the wrestlers financially as for most of them it is the only sources of income”.
The first round of the event will be held in Tehran. All teams will be required to observe the required health protocols. The wrestlers will be tested for covid-19 the before the tournament commences. The date of the second round will be decided after the announcement of the 2020 world championships events. The permission for holding the event was granted on Saturday by the Health Ministry.
10 teams will compete in the league in two groups of five. Also, 11 teams will compete in the Greco-Roman league but the starting date of the event has not been announced yet. Olympic and world champ Hassan Yazdani has signed a contract with the Iranian Grand Bazaar team for the new season of wrestling Premier League.
As per the Iran Wrestling Federation report, after signing the contract Yazdani expressed that he hopes the conditions for holding the Wrestling Premier League will be provided by the government as soon as possible.
It is worth mentioning that the Iranian Grand Bazaar team, which had already recruited several wrestlers in freestyle wrestling, finalized the contracts of seven other freestyle wrestlers to participate in the twentieth season of the Premier League. Parviz Hadi, Mostafa Hossein Khani, Saeed Dadashpour, Amir Hossein Zare, Amir Hossein Kavousi, Iman Sadeghi and Mohammad Mehdi Yeganeh Jafari were the wrestlers who signed their contracts with the Grand Bazaar team of Iran by attending the Wrestling League.
The tournament will also act as a selection window for Iran for the upcoming world championship. United World Wrestling had announced that it will host the senior worlds from December 14 to 20 in Belgrade, Serbia. However, with growing Covid-19 cases in the world, it will review its decision on October 5. Reportedly if the world championship could also get replaced by another tournament.