IOC president to discuss ways to keep wrestling in Olympics

Jacques Rogge will meet with wrestling officials to discuss ways to keep the sport in the Olympics. (Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge will meet with wrestling officials to discuss ways the sport can be saved, at least for the 2020 Olympics.

The news comes one day after 15 members from the IOC executive board voted to do away with the sport after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.  Before making the decision, the board was presented with a report of statistics for 39 categories, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policies and global participation and popularity. The decision does not become official until it is ratified by the full IOC in September.

In the meantime, Rogge will meet with Raphael Martinetti, the president of the international wrestling federation FILA to discuss the possibility of keeping wrestling a part of the Olympics, saying "we agreed we would meet at the first opportunity to have discussions," according to a report Wednesday morning from the Associated Press.

Rogge says he was encouraged that FILA had "vowed to adapt the sport and vowed to fight to be eventually included in the 2020 slot."