Moscow, Russia (May 18, 2013) — Nenad Lalovic,  from Belgrade, Serbia , was elected as the seventh president of FILA, the international federation of wrestling, at a special Congress in Moscow on Saturday.

Lalovic had been serving as Acting President since Feb. 16, 2013, after the resignation of FILA President Raphael  Martinetti.  He now assumes the federation presidency that will run until September 2014, the remainder of the current term.

The 55-year old Lalovic joined the FILA Bureau in 2006 and was re-elected in 2012.  He’s the former president of the Serbian Wrestling Federation and served on the Bureaus of CELA, the European Wrestling Federation, and the Serbian Olympic Committee.

“Our sport is strong, our passion is strong,”Lalovic said after his election by the delegates of national federations from 177 invited countries.  “Our goal now is to convince the IOC that wrestling belongs on the Olympic program. We have to be strong enough to change and make our sport better.  I look forward to that challenge.”

Martinetti resigned days after the IOC’s Executive Board voted not to include wrestling among the 25 core sports for the Olympic Games.  Wrestling is now one of eight sports competing for one spot for the 2020 Olympic Games.  That sport will be named in September in the full IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The IOC Executive Board will announce on May 29 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the sports that will advance to the full session in September.  

International Wrestling Federation Presidents
Einar Raberg, Sweden, 1921-24
Alfred Brull, Hungary, 1924-29
Viktor Smeds, Finland, 1929-52
Roger Coulon, France, 1952-71
Milan Ercegan, Yugoslavia, 1972-2002
Raphael Martinetti, Switzerland, 2002-13
Nenad Lalovic, Serbia, 2013-present