Wrestling and taekwondo and wrestling have joined five other Olympic sports in suspending their membership of SportAccord, amid tension between the umbrella organisation for sports federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Taekwondo has also pulled out of SportAccord's World Combat Games after a unanimous vote by the council of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

“Taekwondo is more than a sport; it is a philosophy," said WTF president Chungwon Choue at the federation’s general assembly on Monday.

"It is a philosophy based on self-discipline, integrity and respect and at the WTF we believe we have an obligation to stay true to these values.

"It is with regret that taekwondo will not participate in the World Combat Games.

"However, we will continue to promote taekwondo and the Olympic values around the world and develop our sport for our athletes and our millions of fans worldwide.”

At the WTF assembly, IOC sports director Kit McConnell gave a presentation about Olympic Agenda 2020 and taekwondo within the Olympic Movement.

The Kosovo Taekwondo Federation was also granted full WTF membershipn at the assembly.

United Worldwide Wrestling (UWW), the international federation for wrestling, said it has also suspended its membership of SportAccord due to relations with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

“Our decision, which is based on our full commitment to the Olympic Movement and its leadership, implies that for the time being, United World Wrestling shall refrain to participate in the activities and games organised by SportAccord, until the relations with ASOIF has improved to the latter’s satisfaction,” said UWW president Nenad Lalovic.

UWW and WTF join the international federations for archery, athletics, boxing, canoeing, shooting in withdrawing their membership of SportAccord in the current climate. 

The moves follow SportAccord president Marius Vizer’s public criticism of the IOC at the SportAccord Convention.

The French capital has secured the event following a decision taken by the UWW during the ongoing 2014 World Championships, which commenced on September 8 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and will run through to September 14.

French Wrestling Federation (FFL) president Alain Bertholom said that the event would place a “tremendous” spotlight on wrestling in France for both men and women.

“The organisation of the World Wrestling Championships in Paris will be a major factor in the development of the discipline in the coming years,” he added.

The 2017 World Championships will mark the first time that France will host the combined men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle championships.

The Parisian commune of Créteil previously hosted the 2003 men’s Greco-Roman World Championships before wrestling’s disciplines were merged into a unified event in 2005. The US city of Las Vegas will host the 2015 World Championships, with the 2016 event yet to be assigned.

The decision to award the 2017 World Championships comes just days after newly-named global wrestling governing body the UWW elected Nenad Lalovic as its president. Lalovic will serve a six-year term in office having taken over as acting president of the previously-labelled International Wrestling Federation (FILA) last year.

Wrestling’s world governing body voted on Sunday at its regular congress to rebrand the organisation in a bid to encourage new ideas to promote and market the sport following a turbulent period in its recent history.

Lalovic had previously secured wrestling's place on the programme for the Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee had voted to remove the sport from the event.

Host City: In the current climate, what kind of events do you think cities and sponsors are most interested in investing in?

Nenad Lalovic: The current climate demands an event that can deliver in a variety of areas that match with a cities or regions current agenda. Promotion of sport as means to a healthy lifestyle, sustainable which is not a burden to a city in the years following an event and a legacy that provides more options and programmes for youth development.

Host City: How does UWW maximise the impact of its own events for stakeholders – the IOC, host cities, sponsors and fans?

Nenad Lalovic: With our new Host City Bidding process, we included a more direct dialogue with host cities while maintaining the existing relationships we have with our National Federations. In doing so it allows us to have the city’s commitment right from the beginning, which creates synergies in finding more sponsors, engaging with fans as well as an event with a legacy.

Host City: Which regions around the world do you see as having the greatest potential for growing wrestling and how can you reach new fans there?

Nenad Lalovic: Asia has a tremendous growth potential for wrestling. Especially, China and India are two markets where we see strong viewership through our livestream and rights holders, and strong future athletes coming up. In addition, Africa and Eastern Europe are also in regions where we have seen steady increase in participation and viewership.

Nenad Lalovic is speaking at Host City 2017 on 28 and 29 November in Glasgow. For more information visit https://unitedworldwrestling.org and www.hostcity.com