International management firm TSE Consulting have been appointed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) to develop a strategic plan, which it hopes will help retain its place on the Olympic program.
The urgent priority is for TSE Consulting to help FILA persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep its place in the Olympics after its ruling Executive Board recommended controversially in February that it should be dropped from the list of core sports after Rio 2016.
Their initial agreement with the Lausanne-based consulting company, which has regional offices across the world, covers a period of 12 months. Already many world leaders and groups have stepped forward to support wrestling, such as the UFC, and May has been declared “World Wrestling Month.”
FILA, along with the seven sports bidding to get onto the program for the 2020 Olympics—baseball-softball, climbing, karate, roller sports squash, wakeboarding and wushu—are due to give a presentation to the IOC Executive Board in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 29.
The Executive Board is then expected to put forward three sports for the IOC membership to vote on at its Session in Buenos Aires on Sept. 9.
There is widespread belief throughout the wrestling community that various changes can be made to FILA and the sport to improve itself.
The FILA leadership believes that putting a strategic plan in place will ensure that a common framework is created within which the sport, represented by the national governing bodies around the world, can work together towards common goals for the future.
“We need to transform our organisation and our sport to ensure a stronger future and to become a better partner for the Olympic Movement,” said Nenad Lalovic, acting president of FILA. “A long term strategic plan is exactly what we need right now to deal with the challenges that we face. TSE Consulting was recommended from a variety of sources and their extensive experience working with other international sports organizations speaks for itself. It is good for our sport to be working with such a professional organization and I believe that FILA and the future of wrestling will benefit tremendously.”
TSE Consulting has previously worked with several other international governing bodies, including the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and World Archery.
“The development of a new strategic plan for not only FILA, but for the sport worldwide, is a fantastic opportunity,” said Lars Haue-Pedersen, managing director of TSE Consulting. “It will modernize the sport and ensure it remains relevant for a broad audience and the various worldwide stakeholders in the coming years. Strategic planning is often difficult for a sports organization as it requires a lot of dedication and commitment to change. Wrestling is ready for this challenge and we look forward to working with them.”
Contact the writer of this story at duncan.mackay@insidethegames.biz. Inside the Games is an online blog of the London Organizing Committee that staged the 2012 London Games. The blog continues to cover issues that are important to the Olympic Movement. This article is reprinted here with permission of the blog editors.