TEHRAN - Alireza Dabir, head of the Iran Wrestling Federation, reacted to the results of the country's national Greco-Roman wrestling team by saying, “If we want to have no problem in Greco-Roman wrestling, we need to localize it in our country.”

Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers ended the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia without winning a single gold medal and ranked fourth with just two silvers and one bronze and a total of 81 points.

“We must increase the number of Greco-Roman wrestlers In Iran to localize it. The number of freestylers is much more than the GrecoRoman wrestlers,” said Dabir in an interview with Iran state-run TV.

"The second problem, in my opinion, is related to the youth categories in the Iranian wrestling clubs," he added.

Iran's Greco-Roman team won four gold medals in the previous edition Norway. It was ranked second in the team table by a small margin compared to the champions Russia. But Mohammad Bana's team had a disappointing and unexpected performance in Serbia.

Bana resigned from his role shortly after the 2022 World Championships, and Hasan Rangraz replaced him in the position.

“We trusted Mr. Bana because he has proved his capabilities throughout his brilliant career. I thank Mohammad Bana and his staff for their efforts in the national team. Bana told me he was exhausted. He didn't want to continue anymore,” said the gold medal winner of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

“Let's not forget that the previous federation finished 11th with the Greco-Roman team in the 2018 World Championships. They handed over that team to me when I took the federation's presidency.

“Mr. Bana led the same team to second place in the 2021 world championships in Norway.

“Moreover, we have won three medals in this year's tournament, and I believe our wrestles were unlucky, and Iran deserved at least one gold medal in Belgrade,” concluded Alireza Dabir.