Britain's senior IOC member Sir Craig Reedie has admitted that making the decision to drop wrestling from the 2020 Olympics was "horrible".
Reedie sits on the 15-strong International Olympic Committee executive board that took the decision on Tuesday. It is expected that a number of countries led by the USA and Russia will lead a campaign for it to be reinstated when it goes head to head with seven other sports in September hoping to be included in the 2020 Games.
Reedie told Press Association Sport: "It was a horrible decision after a marvellous success in London last year where all of the sports were successful. But it was quite clearly pointed out to us that a decision had to be taken."
The executive board had been ordered by an IOC session to reduce the number of core Olympic sports from 26 to 25, and five sports - canoeing, hockey, taekwondo, modern pentathlon and wrestling - were voted on.
The board will decide in May whether wrestling should be shortlisted with some of the seven sports - including squash and karate - for a final vote at the IOC session in September. It would, however, be extremely embarrassing for the IOC if the session merely reinstated the status quo.
IOC president Jacques Rogge insisted he knew there would be an angry reaction and he will meet Raphael Martinetti, the president of international wrestling federation FILA, for talks.
Rogge told a news conference in Lausanne: "We are aware of this, and we knew even before the decision was taken that whichever sport was not included would lead to criticism from the followers of that particular sport.
"I have had contact with the FILA president and agreed to meet him at the first opportunity, I must say FILA reacted well to this disheartening news from their perspective and vowed to adapt their sport and vowed to fight to be eventually included in the 2020 slot.
"Again the vote is not an elimination of wrestling from the Olympic Games, first of all they will participate in Rio and their federation is working towards their inclusion in the 2020 Games."
