A Fun New Wrinkle To The Wrestling Matter

In a thread on Fark concerning wrestling's ouster from the Olympic program, I mentioned how MMA ought to be included as a sport. Someone responded that Olympic MMA would be rather toned down to the point of absurdity. I figured it would partially depend on MMA's governing body as recognized by the IOC, so I went to look up who that was.

As it turns out, that body is FILA, the same body that governs wrestling. Each activity that is classified as a single sport by the IOC is governed by a single body- for example, all aquatic events, be they swimming, diving, water polo or synchronized swimming, are governed by the International Aquatics Federation. Since 26 sports are currently in the program (golf and rugby aren't in yet), that means 26 governing bodies. What that means here is that whatever Olympic hopes that MMA might have are tied directly to the fate of wrestling. MMA could be added to the Olympics without adding a sport, as it would be classified under wrestling. Inversely, if wrestling is removed from the Olympics, any hope that MMA might have of being included will be gone. If wrestling is eliminated, everything FILA oversees is eliminated along with it.

Have fun, Dana White. You suddenly have a stake in this fight.