MOSCOW, Russia – The FILA Bureau, the governing council for international wrestling, held important meetings on Friday afternoon and evening at the Metropol Hotel, in preparation for the FILA Extraordinary Congress set for Saturday.

One of the major decisions reached by the Bureau was to nominate current Acting FILA President Nenad Lalovic of Serbia for approval in the position of President, which will be voted upon by all of the 177 nations which have wrestling programs.

Lalovic was named Acting President in February during Bureau meetings in Thailand, when former FILA President Raphael Martinetti resigned. This occurred just days after the International Olympic Committee Executive Board recommended that wrestling be removed as a core sport at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Mr. Lalovic spoke with the media at the conclusion of the meeting, confirming his selection as candidate being presented by the Bureau, and explained that the Bureau worked on a variety of other issues and changes, which will be presented for approval at the Extraordinary Congress.

Included will be a new FILA Constitution, which will alter the governance of the organization moving forward. Included will be more representation within wrestling for women and athletes, as well as some new commissions that will keep FILA better aligned with the Olympic movement.

A big portion of the meeting was on changes to the wrestling rules. The Bureau has developed a proposal which will be presented for approval at the Congress, which will include many changes from the current rules in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

Lalovic did confirm that if the rule changes are approved by the Congress, that the plan is to make the rule changes in effect immediately.

Acting President Nenad Lalovic press interview after Bureau meeting

FILA Vice President Stan Dziedzic press interview after Bureau meeting