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Putin says it’s ‘unjustified’ to remove traditional sports from Olympics
MOSCOW – Dropping wrestling from the Olympics would not sit well with Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president says it would be “unjustified” to remove traditional sports from the Olympics.
Wrestling is one of Russia’s strongest Olympic events, and Russian sports officials have been upset by the IOC executive board’s vote last month to drop the sport from the 2020 Games.
A final decision will be made by the IOC in September.
Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Wednesday “the removal from the Olympic program of traditional forms of sports, which were its basis from the beginning and were in the program of the Olympic Games even in the time of ancient Greece … is unjustified.”
Putin said he hopes Russia will discuss the issue with the IOC.
Wrestling’s governing body FILA will meet in Moscow on May 18 to elect a new president and make rules changes.
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