Don’t forget wrestlers, says SA’s Olympic referee

Three-time Olympic tournament referee Charles Villet says more has to be done to support and promote wrestling in South Africa.

Villet, who was named the world’s best referee in 2019 when he was awarded a Golden Whistle, was among those who arrived home from Paris yesterday.

Despite his achievements and representing South Africa at many international tournaments, he arrived unnoticed with few people knowing about his accomplishments.

“It’s like people don’t see the referee because a referee has to be neutral, but I represented South Africa,” he said.

Part of wrestling world for 50 years

Villet, who has been part of the wrestling world for 50 years, has also participated as a referee at three Commonwealth Games and became the first African referee to attend the Olympics in 2016.

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He said he started wrestling at the age of eight, was a South African champion by 15 and became a referee at just 18.

People still associated wrestling with WWE because the sport didn’t enjoy much TV coverage, he said.

“Wrestling is an amateur sport, it’s different to WWE you see on TV. There are rules to follow and we don’t hit each other like you see they do in WWE.

“We wrestle and that’s more competitive because you have to pin your opponent and score points,” he said.

Wrestling not promoted or supported

Although wrestling was a clean sport with fewer injuries than other sports, it wasn’t that popular because it wasn’t being promoted or supported, he said.

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“We need the support from South Africa’s national multi-coded sporting body.

“Many funds come from parents’ pockets to send wrestlers to compete internationally. One international competition costs about R30 000, of which parents pay 70%. How many times can you support a child wrestler per year?”

Villet said South African wrestlers didn’t hold many medals, because many couldn’t compete internationally.

“The problem is the support. Rugby, football and cricket have a huge support and TV coverage, but wrestling is nowhere to be seen.

“We have a lot of talented wrestlers, enough to fill a Springbok team,” Villet said.

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This year, Villet travelled to Tanzania, Kenya and Türkiye as part of the United World Wrestling programme to help develop wrestling in Africa.