United World Wrestling has landed its first sponsor since its rebrand from the International Wrestling Federation (FILA), signing a deal with Chinese sports equipment manufacturer Taishan through to 2020.
Under the terms of the deal, Taishan will provide mats for international competitions and also work with UWW to distribute mats to resource-challenged countries in need of additional support.
UWW adopted its new name, logo and visual identity on September 7 and the governing body said it is set to follow the Taishan agreement with a number of other sponsor deals in the coming months.
United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic said: “Taishan came to me after wrestling was temporarily voted off the Olympic programme. They told me that no matter what happened they wanted to be our partner and contribute to the sport of wrestling. That decision showed their commitment to the sport of wrestling worldwide.
“With Taishan we want to innovate our competition but also play a part in the development of wrestling. With Taishan helping us build necessary infrastructure in countries that need resources to develop this is another step in changing our sport for the better.”