University of Nottingham set to host upgraded 2025 World Tug of War championships
The University of Nottingham's world class sporting facilities and campus services will play host to the 2025 World Outdoor Tug of War Championships on 4 - 7 September 2025.
Published 29 Mar 2025
England Men's team compete at the previous championships. Credit: Andreas Becker
Originally set to be the European championships, this week at the Tug of War International Federation (TWIF) Congress member countries voted to hold the World Championships on an annual, rather than bi-annual basis. With the ruling coming into effect immediately, Nottingham will now host the World Tug of War Championships.
With member countries from all over the world voting to hold a world championships annually from here on in shows the positivity, enthusiasm and passion for global growth of our sport.
Dan McCarthy
TWIF President
Contestants at the event will arrive in Nottingham from 1 September, will weigh in on 3 September, and will then spend four days battling it out at international club level on the Thursday and Friday (4 and 5 September) with full international competitions taking place on the Saturday and Sunday of the championship (6 and 7 September).
The tournament will be open to men’s teams, women’s teams, and mixed teams who will be competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in different weight categories. The event will also stage junior and under 23 competitions, where again, there will be weight classes for men’s, women’s and mixed teams in these age categories.
This is a very exciting development. It’s not very often that you get the opportunity to host a World Championships. The last time we hosted one was back in 2000. Not only that, the event will draw a bigger number of countries, teams, competitors and supporters to the event. It will be a great atmosphere and we encourage everyone to come along and support the event. It is a great opportunity for people to see a top level tug of war competition, something which people in the area may not have seen before - there is certainly a lot more to tug of war than what people normally think, and preparing for this event takes weeks, months and years of hard work and preparation.
Alan Knott
Tug of War spokesperson and Organising Committee member
The four days of competition will take place on the University of Nottingham’s Highfields sports complex, and the competitors will be housed at the main University Campus, although a number of visitors to the championships are expected to use other local hotels across the city. The venue will also be easily accessible to spectators with direct trams available from the city centre to the venue.
It’s fantastic to see this event re-classified as a World Championship. The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Venues has a strong track record of hosting major sports events, and we are delighted to play our part in bringing this competition to England. As a global university, we are proud to welcome athletes and supporters from around the world to our campus and the city of Nottingham. This event will bring with it significant social and economic benefits to our local community and further enriches the vibrant sporting scene here.
Christine Bailey
Assistant Director of Sport - University of Nottingham
The World Outdoor Tug of War Championships recently took place in Mannheim, Germany, and England tug of war teams came away with a total of 1 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals across the club and international competitions.
To find out more about Tug of War and the event, follow the Championships on Facebook and Instagram.