Save Olympic Wrestling Coalition Formed Among Nations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Save Olympic Wrestling Coalition has been formed by a number of international wrestling federations to show wrestling should remain on the Olympic program.

This is a unique partnership that will send a powerful message to the International Olympic Committee about the importance and relevance of wrestling to the Olympic Games. The coalition will initially be comprised of strategically identified federations to show that regardless of geographic or political differences, they are unified in a commitment to this effort.

Goals of the coalition include:

• Support the political campaign of FILA, the international governing body of wrestling
• Mobilize energy and resources in each country
• Promote Olympic wrestling through World Wrestling Month in May
• Support Acting FILA President Nenad Lalovic and his administration
• Assist with the continued development of Olympic wrestling

The following countries have committed their support to this effort:
Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, United States and Uzbekistan.

Each of those countries will sign a resolution which states their cause and publicizes the key initiatives.

The nations in the coalition will also participate in promoting World Wrestling Month in May, which was developed by FILA to showcase international wrestling's impact all around the world.

In addition, many other countries have expressed an interest in joining this coalition. Follow up announcements will be made with new coalition members as they are added.

"We are very excited about this coalition. It will expand and become a huge asset to our sport as we unify the wrestling federations in the world around one of the most important initiatives in the history of wrestling," said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender, who worked closely with other international wrestling leaders on the coalition.

ABOUT USA WRESTLING
USA Wrestling is the National Governing Body for the Sport of Wrestling in the United States and, as such, is its representative to the United States Olympic Committee and the International Wrestling Federation FILA. Simply, USA Wrestling is the central organization that coordinates amateur wrestling programs in the nation and works to create interest and participation in these programs. Its president is James Ravannack, and its Executive Director is Rich Bender.

http://keepwrestlingintheolympics.com
facebook.com/officialkeepwrestlingintheolympics
twitter.com/@wrestlingvision

SOURCE USA Wrestling