Turkey, one of the candidates to host the 2020 Olympic Games, has announced that it will oppose the deletion of wrestling from the program of the Games as proposed by the International Olympic Committee.
"It's unfair to even talk about it. We will never allow it," said the president of the Turkish Wrestling Federation, Hamza Jerlikaja.
"We will work to get rid of that mistake and idea," added Jerlikaja, a two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion and eight-time European champion in Greco-Roman style wrestling.
Recalling that wrestling is one of the oldest Olympic sports, Jerlikaja added that Istanbul is a candidate to host the 2020 Games together with Madrid and Tokyo.
"We are the most serious candidates. Organizing the Games in Istanbul without wrestling is unthinkable".
The Japanese wrestlers and the Olympic Committee of that country, as well as the Russians, expressed dissatisfaction.
"I don't even know where such a decision came from. I'm completely broken, I don't know what to do," said Saori Yoshida, three-time Olympic champion and nine-time world champion in the category up to 55 kilograms.
"I'm honestly shocked. I have no idea why they decided to do something like that," said Japan Wrestling Federation President Tomiyaki Fukuda.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to delete wrestling from the program of the Olympic Games from 2020.
After everything, the International Olympic Committee tried to calm passions and announced that the decision to exclude wrestling "is not final".
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