Magomed Guseinov, a distinguished coach of the USSR and Russia in freestyle wrestling from Dagestan, recorded a video message to Russian President Vladimir Putin calling for order to be restored within the national wrestling federation, headed by Mikhail Mamiashvili.

Guseinov complains that during Mamiashvili's three decades at the helm of the federation, a number of serious problems have accumulated that hinder its progress.

"We invest our health and the best years of our lives, devoting ourselves entirely to training, but we don't receive the recognition or support we deserve—no prize money, no sponsorship from the federation," the coach laments.

According to Guseinov, many athletes are forced to seek opportunities abroad, while others abandon the sport altogether. This is happening against the backdrop of athletes viewing conditions in other sports associations as offering significant bonuses, which cannot be said for wrestlers, the Dagestani coach continues.

He claims that Mamiashvili failed to attend recent matches in Dagestan and North Ossetia, which "undermines the trust of the federation vice presidents." Instead, he focuses only on PWL-style tournaments, which are funded by the state, because "they generate income." However, these funds, according to Guseinov, are not used to develop wrestling in the country or support young talent.

Earlier, in January, the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info reported on a crisis within the Russian Wrestling Federation. According to sources, Mikhail Mamiashvili has built a rigid power structure that blocks any positive initiative. "A striking example is his reaction to a friendly match between the North Ossetian and Dagestan national teams in Vladikavkaz, organized by the local sports community with the participation of FSBR Vice Presidents Arsen Fadzaev and Omar Murtuzaliev. The federation president convened an emergency executive committee meeting, banned such events without his personal approval, and threatened the vice presidents," the statement read.

According to the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info, the federation's financial activities also raise serious questions. According to sources in the management community, Mamiashvili's personal income from facilitating wrestlers' transfers to foreign clubs over the past year and a half is estimated at $4-4.5 million. A lack of transparency in the distribution of sponsorship and government funds is highlighted.

"The current policy of the FSBR leadership has already led to consequences unseen in the past two decades: the mass exodus of leading Russian wrestlers to compete under the flags of other countries, the loss of cohesion and control within the national team, and significant damage to the international reputation of the Russian school of freestyle wrestling," the Telegram channels noted.

In April 2025, during the awards ceremony at the European Championships in Bratislava, Mikhail Mamiashvili made offensive remarks about Russian wrestler Chermen Valiev, competing under the Albanian flag.

"I congratulated him on his victory. Perhaps he was surprised that I did so. Just a year ago, literally four months before the Olympics, he was on our national team. The national team trained him, and today he competes under the Albanian flag, with tears in his eyes. Perhaps this embarrassed him? For people like Chermen, the flag doesn't matter. Today it's Albanian, tomorrow it's Bulgarian. "So, the Albanian flag is in their hands," Mamiashvili said after the awards ceremony.

Valiev, in turn, noted that he had fulfilled all his obligations upon joining the Albanian national team and had paid the appropriate dues to the International and Russian Wrestling Federations. "As for what happened at the awards ceremony? Mikhail Gerazievich called me a traitor to the Motherland. I was perplexed... Did I try to talk to him after the incident at the awards ceremony? I approached him, but the organizers took me away," the athlete said.

There has been no response from Mikhail Mamiashvili or the Russian Wrestling Federation to the allegations made in the video message addressed to the country's president.