IOC plays down wrestling's exit after global uproar
Source: Agencies |
February 14, 2013, Thursday
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THE surprise recommendation to drop wrestling from the Olympics has angered athletes, officials and fans around the world and the International Olympic Committee played down the finality of its decision yesterday.
The IOC's 15-member executive board voted in Lausanne on Tuesday to recommend that the sport be dropped from the 2020 Olympic program, with a final decision resting with the IOC session in September in Buenos Aires.
The vote prompted an instant wave of protest and anger from the sport's global community with the international federation FILA calling it an aberration, petitions launched with the United States White House and online wrestling support groups signing up thousands of supporters.
India's government said yesterday it will seek the support of other countries where wrestling is popular to help the sport remain an Olympic discipline.
"These reactions, they are quite normal," IOC Vice President Thomas Bach said. "This would have happened with any decision. You've to find the right balance between tradition and progress.
"This was a decision about core sports and nothing more," he said of Tuesday's vote that cut the core Olympic sports from 26 to 25, leaving out wrestling.
"I am happy about FILA's reaction, to draw up a plan to act. That is the right way. Keep in mind a final decision has not yet been taken," said Bach, a potential presidential candidate later this year.
The IOC's executive board will meet in St Petersburg in May to decide which of eight candidate sports, including wrestling, will be put forward to win the spot left vacant for the 2020 Games.
It will then put its recommendation for the 25 core sports and the new entry to a vote at its session in Argentina.
"It was always going to be a painful decision," said IOC member and head of the organization's finance commission Richard Carrion.
Wrestling's surprise exit has been blamed by some on a lack of political support within the executive board, where other sports at risk - including modern pentathlon and taekwondo - had the upper hand with representatives in the 15-member group.
The IOC's 15-member executive board voted in Lausanne on Tuesday to recommend that the sport be dropped from the 2020 Olympic program, with a final decision resting with the IOC session in September in Buenos Aires.
The vote prompted an instant wave of protest and anger from the sport's global community with the international federation FILA calling it an aberration, petitions launched with the United States White House and online wrestling support groups signing up thousands of supporters.
India's government said yesterday it will seek the support of other countries where wrestling is popular to help the sport remain an Olympic discipline.
"These reactions, they are quite normal," IOC Vice President Thomas Bach said. "This would have happened with any decision. You've to find the right balance between tradition and progress.
"This was a decision about core sports and nothing more," he said of Tuesday's vote that cut the core Olympic sports from 26 to 25, leaving out wrestling.
"I am happy about FILA's reaction, to draw up a plan to act. That is the right way. Keep in mind a final decision has not yet been taken," said Bach, a potential presidential candidate later this year.
The IOC's executive board will meet in St Petersburg in May to decide which of eight candidate sports, including wrestling, will be put forward to win the spot left vacant for the 2020 Games.
It will then put its recommendation for the 25 core sports and the new entry to a vote at its session in Argentina.
"It was always going to be a painful decision," said IOC member and head of the organization's finance commission Richard Carrion.
Wrestling's surprise exit has been blamed by some on a lack of political support within the executive board, where other sports at risk - including modern pentathlon and taekwondo - had the upper hand with representatives in the 15-member group.
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