Munich 1972 Memorial Wrestling Tournament

Hi, my name is Aviram Shmuely. I'm the nephew of the late Moshe Weinberg, the wrestling head coach, one of the eleven Israeli athletes massacred in the Munich 1972 Olympics. The event that changed my life forever.

At that time, my father saw it as a mission for me to be involved in the sport of wrestling and continue the long family wrestling tradition.

I started as a wrestler representing Israel at home and abroad, followed by an international wrestling referee(represented Israel in the Tokyo Olympics). Now I'm a member of the Israel Wrestling Federation executive committee.

It is a life mission and an honor to commemorate those athletes, coaches, and referees who fell while representing Israel, the Olympic spirit, and the sport I love.

We had an annual tradition years ago, where we held an international wrestling competition dedicated to the event above.

In the last few years, it did not take place for various reasons.

As you all know, this year is the 50th anniversary of the Munich Olympics. The Israeli wrestling federation, with my encouragement, agreed to restart the tradition.

We filed a request for a tournament with United World Wrestling(the governing international wrestling body), and they approved it.

The tournament will take place in Beer Sheba on August 25th and 26th,2022. It is an open international tournament, and we already got commitments from Germany, USA and Canada, to name a few. In addition, we were approached by the Moroccan Wrestling Federation and Ghana, and they are considering coming as well.

As part of the Wrestling For Peace idea, we invite Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the UAE.

The US will also bring a team of teenagers from the Beat The Street program(Cleveland and Detroit). It is a tremendous nationwide program for inner-city kids from low-income families.

We expect the tournament to be a world-class event, covered by the media and will show everyone that we are all a united wrestling family. We will put aside all politics and do what athletes do best: compete in a friendly and honorable way.

Our biggest challenge right now is fundraising for the event. We requested help from the Ministry of Sport and the Israeli Olympic Committee. Both stated that they support the idea, yet they don't have funds for it.

We are reaching out to some corporations and private donors in the US and Israel.

If some countries can not afford to participate because of a lack of funds, we will try and help to make it happen.

We will appreciate any help you can provide to show the world that we never forget, yet we move forward strongly towards peace.

All donors/supporters will be recognized officially in the tournament programs and receive a citation.

Thank you all for your consideration and support.