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Los Angeles – USA Wrestling and Beat the Streets-Los Angeles, Inc. has announced that the United States and Iran will come together in a friendly international wrestling competition Sunday, May 19 at 2 p.m. at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The event will also be a major opportunity for the Keep Olympic Wrestling movement and the 2020 Vision: Wrestling, Keep the Dream Alive campaign. The match is being staged in cooperation with California USA Wrestling.
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On Feb. 12, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board made a recommendation that wrestling should not be a core sport at the 2020 Olympic Games. A final decision on the program of the 2020 Olympics will be made by the entire IOC in September. A worldwide effort has been launched by FILA and all 177 nations which participate in wrestling to retain wrestling as an Olympic sport.
Billed “United 4 Wrestling,” the event will be a showcase competition as part of World Wrestling Month, which was declared by the international wrestling federation (FILA). “We are elated to bring together these nations in this historic friendly competition,” said Beat the Streets-Los Angeles President Andy Barth. “This illustrates how the great sport of wrestling can enable countries from across the world to put aside their differences and create a common bond. ‘United 4 Wrestling’ will be an event that will demonstrate the broad impact and popularity of wrestling, as a sport, as a tool for diplomacy and as a means to raise funding for the inner-city kids who participate through wrestling in our year-round youth development ‘Beat the Streets-Los Angeles’ program.”
Sponsoring the “United 4 Wrestling” event in Los Angeles is the Semnani Family Foundation, an international humanitarian organization based in Salt Lake City and founded by Khosrow Semnani, a prominent Iranian-American philanthropist. “For hundreds of thousands of Iranian-Americans – in L.A. and beyond – the `United 4 Wrestling’ event offers a chance to celebrate and defend wrestling as an Olympic sport and tradition,” Semnani said. “Beyond wrestling, these athletes, American and Iranian, embody standards of excellence and a code of sportsmanship that unites us around a culture of fair play. They remind us of the deeper ways in which the Olympic Games bind Iran and America, our ancestral and adopted homelands, as one. Whether it is in philanthropy, sports, medicine, business, culture or education, we Iranian-Americans are more than willing to do our part so that instead of growing up as strangers, future generations of Iranians and Americans can benefit from more of these people-to-people exchanges. “
The USA vs. Iran dual meet will feature the current international freestyle wrestling rules. Lineups will be released when available.
Tickets for “United 4 Wrestling” will be available at www.ticketmaster.com beginning May 1.
“United 4 Wrestling” will follow on the heels of an event Wednesday, May 15 at Vanderbilt Hall in New York’s Grand Central Terminal involving the United States, Iran and Russia, three of the world’s best wrestling nations. Since the IOC announcement, these three nations have worked closely together to help support Olympic wrestling. Although their governments do not always agree, the wrestling leaders in these nations have a strong working relationship.
Sports competition between the United States and Iran has been an example of how wrestling transcends politics and cultural differences. Iran has competed in wrestling in the United States 10 times in recent years, including two competitions in New York City. This included the 1995 World Championships in Atlanta, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 1998 Junior World Championships in Primm, Nev., the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City and the 2003 World Championships in New York City. In addition, the Iranian team competed in the World Cup held in the United States five times (1995 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; 1998 in Stillwater, Okla.; 1999 in Spokane, Wash.; 2000 in Fairfax, Va. and 2001 in Baltimore, Md.).
USA Wrestling sponsored the first American sports team to compete in Iran after an absence of nearly 20 years, when a U.S. freestyle wrestling team competed in the 1998 Takhti Cup in Tehran. In total, the USA has wrestled in Iran 11 times, including the historic 1998 tour.
“It is an exciting opportunity for wrestling to show the world its ability to bring together nations of different political, cultural and geographic backgrounds,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are excited to participate in World Wrestling Month, and pleased to partner again with California USA Wrestling and Beat the Streets-Los Angeles to bring wrestling to new heights. I would also like to extend my thanks and thanks from all those involved in wrestling to the Semnani Family Foundation. Their philanthropy and charitable spirit serve as an example to all.”
“This being a unique visit to Los Angeles by the Iranian wrestling team and because of the large Iranian-American population in Southern California, this event will provide one of the most compelling showcase settings our sport has ever had,” said Duane Morgan, state chairman, California USA Wrestling.
TENTATIVE “UNITED 4 WRESTLING” SCHEDULE:At Los Angeles, May 192 p.m. – USA vs. Iran, at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
