Igali Emerges Vice-President of Commonwealth Wrestling Board

Igali Emerges Vice President Of Commonwealth Wrestling Board  By Emeka Dannar World and Olympic champion Hon. Daniel Igali has been elected the vice-president of the Commonwealth Wrestling Board.   The Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) president polled 19 of the available 22 votes at a meeting of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Wrestling Committee at the just-concluded 2018 Gold Coast Games in Australia, to emerge  one of the three vice-presidents of the body.   Head of Canada Wrestling Federation Don Ryan was elected president of the Board while South Africa’s Sakkie Bosse and Australia’s John Saul will join Igali as vice presidents at the Board.   The mandate which is for the next four years (from 2018-2022) will see the board improve outreach and increase its efforts for promotion and the development of wrestling within the Commonwealth.      Commonwealth Wrestling Board of Directors, Secretary General and Members:   Don RYAN (CAN) – President   Sakkie BOSSE (RSA) – Vice President   John SAUL (AUS) – Vice President   Daniel IGALI (NGR) – Vice President   Ian WIGGETT (GBR - Wales) – Secretary General   Marlene POURI-LANE – Member   Ilai MANU (TKL) – Member           Nigeria To Participate In Paris Invitational Tourney   The Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) has been invited by their French counterparts to be part of a friendly confrontation in the form of a test-match that will see wrestlers from both countries square up against each other later this year.    The one-day event scheduled for Thursday, 20th December, 2018, will be staged at the prestigious Cirque d'hiver in Paris, the mythical place of French sport.   Nine (9) Nigerian wrestlers - 3 in Freestyle, 3 in Greco Roman and 3 in Women Wrestling - are expected to battle their French opposition in the course of the event.   In an invitation letter sent to the NWF, the French Wrestling Federation also promised to take care of the logistics of the Nigerian delegation, which will comprise of 9 athletes, 3 coaches, 2 officials and a referee.   The Nigerian athletes will also be in Paris for a week, and are expected to be part of an internship arrangement, the organisers stated in the invitation letter: “we are happy to invite you once again for a promotional event of an evening of wrestling. Your athletes will be able to share a sports internship with our team from France at INSEP de Paris, and we invite you for a week at this Olympic establishment - the showcase of French sports.”   It would be recalled that earlier this year, the NWF received a similar invitation from the United States Wrestling Federation to participate in the Beat The Streets Competition in New York next month.