Bulgarian Wrestling Federation refers Russian transfer probe to prosecutors over sanctions concerns

The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation has referred a report on the transfer of a Russian wrestler to prosecutors and notified the embassies of the United States, United Kingdom and EU member states in Sofia, citing indications that the deal may have involved attempts to circumvent sanctions against Russia.

The case centres on a Russian wrestler who received the right to compete for Bulgaria from the beginning of 2026. The federation said its new leadership learned additional details about the transfer only afterwards and launched an internal investigation.

The investigation examined the circumstances surrounding the change of the wrestler’s sporting nationality, including a CHF 210,000 (around €222,500) compensation payment, the involvement of Bulgarian individuals and organisations and information that cryptocurrency was used as a payment method.

The federation’s governing board unanimously approved the report on 16 September and plans to submit it to the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office. The authorities will now have to determine whether the information points to violations of Bulgarian law or EU sanctions.

A bitcoin payment under scrutiny

Particular attention in the report is given to the alleged payment of the CHF 210,000 compensation to the Russian Wrestling Federation in bitcoin.

The Bulgarian federation said it had received information suggesting that cryptocurrency may have been used specifically as a mechanism to circumvent sanctions. It is asking the competent authorities to establish the complete financial route of the money, including the payer, recipient, intermediaries, wallets and payment channels.

The federation also identified indications that a Bulgarian wrestling club and a Bulgarian businessman – described publicly as a patron of Bulgarian wrestling and a former member of the federation’s governing board, may have been involved in the financial operations surrounding the transfer. The federation did not name them in its statement.

The allegations have not been established by prosecutors or a court.

The case has an international dimension. The federation said its report was also supported by correspondence with United World Wrestling, the sport’s international governing body, which it said strictly follows the EU sanctions regime against Russia.

In August 2026, sanctioned Russian Wrestling Federation president Mikhail Mamiashvili was forced to resign as a vice-president of United World Wrestling. The Bulgarian federation cited the episode as further evidence of the importance of examining the financial and institutional links surrounding Russian wrestling.

The wrestler at the centre of the case is not named in the federation’s statement. Bulgarian media outlet Sega reported that the case concerns freestyle wrestler Shamil Mamedov, who obtained a Bulgarian passport at the end of January. The Bulgarian federation lists Mamedov as competing for Bulgaria since 2026.

Beyond one wrestler

The federation’s investigation goes beyond the individual transfer and raises questions about Bulgaria’s longer-standing policy of recruiting wrestlers and coaches from Russia and other former Soviet states.

According to the report, previous federation leaderships developed a sustained policy of attracting athletes and specialists from what it calls the “Russian world”. The investigation asks whether this created significant sporting, organisational and financial dependence on the Russian wrestling system.

The federation argues that the question is particularly sensitive following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when Russian sport has increasingly been viewed by Western governments and institutions as part of Moscow’s wider international influence efforts.

Its report therefore calls for scrutiny not only of whether individual transfers and naturalisations complied formally with international wrestling rules, but also of how they were financed, who made the decisions, and who ultimately paid and received the money.

“The Bulgarian wrestling cannot be used as a channel for circumventing sanctions, as an instrument of foreign influence or as a platform for political propaganda,” the federation said.

The dispute also reflects a broader clash over Bulgaria’s wrestling policy. New federation president Stanka Zlateva has previously criticised the former leadership for continuing to recruit Russian athletes while using funds allocated by Bulgaria’s sports ministry.

At the end of April, Zlateva said the previous president, Hristo Marinov, had paid for another Russian wrestler, Albert Doev, in March, after losing the federation election. She also said documents showed negotiations had taken place over Mamedov and five other Russian wrestlers.

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