Arthur Aleksanyan’s rival Kiril Milov will not compete at the 2025 World Championships

Reigning European champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, Bulgarian Kiril Milov, will miss the 2025 World Championships, which will take place from September 13 to 21 in the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

It should be recalled that at the European Championships in Bratislava in February, Milov defeated Armenian titan Arthur Aleksanyan 3:1 in the semifinals and confidently overcame Germany’s Alexandros Lazogiannis 7:1 in the final, winning the gold medal.

However, Milov’s name is missing from Bulgaria’s roster for the World Championships. According to the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, the European champion, along with Paris 2024 Olympic champion Semyon Novikov, refused to train under the new head coach of the Bulgarian national team, Stoyan Dobrev, preferring to continue working with their former mentor Soslan Farniyev. This decision cost them their place on the national team.

Thus, representing Bulgaria in Greco-Roman wrestling in Zagreb will be Nikolay Vichev, Petar Gornyashki, Stoyan Kubatov, Deivid Dimitrov, and Ioan Dimitrov.

Another serious loss for the Bulgarian team is the absence of Olympic and European freestyle wrestling champion Magomed Ramazanov. The naturalized Dagestani will undergo shoulder surgery and will be sidelined from competitions for a long period.

As a result, Bulgaria has registered 15 athletes for the World Championships: five Greco-Roman wrestlers, seven freestyle wrestlers, and three female competitors.

Meanwhile, Arthur Aleksanyan will represent Armenia in the 97 kg weight category in Greco-Roman wrestling.