The 2019 Beach Wresting World Series will be launched in late March and will involve four stops around the globe.

"Beach wrestling appeals to fans and wrestlers of all ages," said UWW President Nenad Lalovic.

"Our young wrestlers and older lions can compete together on the beach and showcase our sport in a new and exciting way.

"The World Series events will have a fun atmosphere with music, food, and high energy competition."

The Beach Wrestling World Series will start off in the historic town of Chaves, Portugal, from March 29 to 30, before moving on to the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro from May 11 to 12.

Wrestlers at the first two Beach Wrestling World Series events will also earn points to qualify for the first Association of National Olympic Committees World Beach Games, scheduled to take place this October in San Diego.

The third stop of the World Series will take place at Odessa in Ukraine from August 9 to 10, with the Series Final being held in Zagreb in Croatia from September 6 to 9.

The Beach Wrestling World Series will follow a pool format with each wrestler competing against everyone else to determine who will compete for gold and bronze.

The series will feature cash prizes totalling CHF15,000 (£11,300/$15,050/€13,200) per event.

Each weight category will be awarded a total of CHF1,750 (£1,320/$1,755/€1,540), comprising CHF1,000 (£750/$1000/€880) for gold, CHF500 (£380/$500/€440) for silver and CHF250 (£190/$250/€220) for bronze.

To incentivise crowd-pleasing techniques, fans in attendance will also be asked to vote on the "Big Move from the Beach" - an award that comes with an additional CHF1,000 for the winner.

For women and men there will be four weight classes in the Series.

The women will compete at 50 kilograms, 60kg, 70kg and over-70kg and the men will compete at 70kg, 80kg, 90kg and over-90kg.

National Federations are limited to three entries per weight category.