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Rules for participation of foreigners in Bulgarian wrestling clubs tightened

Radio Bulgaria in English

Friday, 4 April 2025, 15:06

Stanka Zlateva

Stanka Zlateva

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The executive committee of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation has made the decision that at championships, tournaments and camps communication inside the national team shall take place in the official language of the country – Bulgarian. In March, Bulgaria’s most successful female wrestler Stanka Zlateva took over as head of the federation’s executive committee.
“All official statements, including statements for the media will be in the Bulgarian language and will only express an attitude to the Republic of Bulgaria, the official institutions of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, including the symbols of the Republic of Bulgaria – coat of arms, flag, and anthem,” the decision reads. Up to three foreigners will be allowed in the club for 2026, including naturalized citizens, but not more than two in a given style.
In January, a number of clubs boycotted the national Greco-Roman style wrestling championship, alleging that naturalized wrestlers were being tolerated in Bulgaria. In fact, the last two Bulgarian Olympic wrestling champions- Magomed Ramazanov (freestyle) and Semen Novikov (Greco-Roman) are naturalized citizens. Coach of Bulgaria’s national team (Greco-Roman) is Russian - Soslan Farniev - and for this reason the language spoken within the team is usually Russian.

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