The Sports Ministry has requested International Olympic Committee, IOC, to retain wrestling in the category of core sports in Olympic Games at its upcoming session beginning this Saturday. In a letter written to all IOC members, Secretary, Department of Sports P K Deb, said, India believes the decision to exclude wrestling from the 25 core sports needs to be reconsidered as it will severely affect the sustenance of the game in future.Mr Deb wrote that in modern times, wrestling has immense popularity and fan following world-wide. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that 71 countries participated in wrestling events in the London Olympics 2012, to full houses, he added. A Sports Ministry statement said, the Executive Board of the IOC at its meeting in February this year recommended that wrestling governed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling be not included in the list of core sports for the 2020 Olympics.