The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee agreed on the 25 sports it will propose to the 125th IOC session for approval as the core sports for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Wrestling was not one of them. The 25 core sports which were listed by the EB are shooting, athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, swimming, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, archery, triathlon, sailing and volleyball. The EB recommended that wrestling, governed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), not be included on the list of core sports. In an effort to ensure the Olympic Games remain relevant to sports fans of all generations, the Olympic Programme Commission systematically reviews every sport following each edition of the Games. Golf and rugby sevens were added in 2009 as additional sports to the 2016 Olympics scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro. The 125th IOC Session will take place from 7 to 10 September in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The feedback from the international body was harsh especially at the extraordinary bureau meeting headed by President of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) Raphael Martinetti in Phuket, Thailand on 15-16 February. A group of Eastern delegates accused Martinetti of not being able to keep wrestling as part of the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games. Still, Martinetti asked for the bureau's trust in leading the campaign to save wrestling in the coming months but the bureau only supported him by 50 per cent in a vote of confidence. Martinetti did not use his casting vote to save his position and announced his resignation. He had been in the position since 2002. Martinetti will remain a bureau member till the end of his term in 2014. The FILA Bureau nominated Nenad Lalovic (SRB) as acting president. In accordance with the FILA constitution, an extraordinary congress may be called by the bureau or by at least one-third of the affiliated national federations in order to ratify the bureau's decision or appoint another acting president. Wrestling will be among baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and wushu, the eight sports that are scheduled to make presentations to the EB at its meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, in May. The EB will select which of the eight sports to recommend to the 125th IOC session for inclusion as an additional sport in the 2020 programme.
