The result brings UWW's cumulative loss from 2017 to 2020 to more than CHF14 million (£11 million/$15 million/€13 million), whose World Championships got underway in Oslo yesterday.

However, the governing body’s total assets remained sizeable – at just over CHF27 million (£21.4 million/$29 million/€25 million) – at the end of last year, even if this figure has declined from more than CHF39 million (£31 million/$41.9 million/€36 million) at end-2017.

A revised budget for 2021 included in working documents for approval at UWW’s first Ordinary Congress for three years in Belgrade at the end of this month makes clear, moreover, that the body expects to register a profit of some CHF10.5 million (£8.3 million/$11.3 million/€9.7 million) this year.

This takes into account an expected payment of CHF15 million (£11.9 million/$16 million/€13.9 million) from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for wrestling’s contribution to Tokyo 2020, which was eventually staged in testing and highly unusual circumstances during the summer.

The Congress is expected to see the uncontested re-election in his home capital of Serbia’s Nenad Lalović to the UWW Presidency.

The 63-year-old diplomat’s son has become an increasingly influential figure in IOC circles since his election to that body in 2015, quickly being elevated to membership of the IOC Executive Board.

UWW’s income in 2020 totalled little more than CHF3 million (£2.4 million/$3.2 million/€2.8 million), less than half the prior year’s CHF7.25 million (£5.75 million/$7.8 million/€6.7 million) total.

Income from TV rights dropped from CHF1.1 million (£870,000/$1.2 million/€1 million) to less than CHF300,000 (£240,000/$320,000/€280,000).

Income from sponsorship, by contrast, held relatively steady at some CHF468,000 (£370,000/$500,000/€435,000), down from CHF509,000 (£400,000/$547,000/€470,000).

Operating expenses fell from CHF10.6 million (£8.4 million/$11.4 million/€9.8 million) in 2019 to CHF7.75 million (£6.1 million/$8.3 million/€7.2 million), resulting in an operating loss of CHF4.75 million (£3.75 million/$5.1 million/€4.4 million), against CHF3.3 million (£2.6 million/$3.5 million/€3 million) a year earlier.

Financial statements for the last three years have been posted on the UWW website among other working documents ahead of the Congress.

For some reason, however, available information has been restricted to the balance sheet, income statement and cashflow statement for each of the three years.

The absence of associated notes means the picture presented is less detailed than might have been anticipated, especially given that some of the information covers a period as long ago as 2018.