The parallel is striking with the situation in Ukraine, where Russian forces have been gaining ground for several weeks. Removed from the presidency of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) in March 2022, when Moscow’s forces attacked the neighboring country, Russian billionaire Alicher Ousmanov regained control of the body during a vote organized on Saturday, November 30 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The businessman’s victory, foreseeable since 103 FIE member countries – including several from the European Union – supported his candidacy, is definitive. Ousmanov, 71, won the votes of 120 national federations, compared to 26 for his opponent, Swede Otto Drakenberg, 58, a former high-level fencer turned businessman. Therefore, he will return to the position held on an interim basis, since 2022, by the Greek Emmanuel Katsiadakis.
“I am convinced that fencing has a bright future and that the discipline will undergo dynamic development, Ousmanov stated in a press release published Saturday morning. I will do everything in my power to achieve this, despite recent attempts to denigrate our sport and its transformation into a theater of battles that have nothing to do with sport. »
Target of European Union sanctions
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the FIE unrest has echoed the conflict several times. First, when Ousmanov had to leave his position in March 2022, due to his alleged links with Vladimir Putin, which the interested party vigorously and regularly denies. Then, in March 2023, when the federation was the first to register the return to international competitions of Russian and Belarusian athletes excluded at the beginning of the conflict. In the summer of 2023, the World Championships in Milan were also marked by the disqualification of Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan, for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent.
Ousmanov, whose personal fortune is estimated by Bloomberg at $13 billion (€12.3 billion), became rich through investments in the metallurgical industry. It is subject to European Union sanctions, which were still in effect in September, according to Agence France-Presse. In particular, he is subject to travel limitations in certain countries, including Switzerland, where the FIE headquarters is located (in Lausanne), and to the freezing of his assets.
In the press release published on Saturday, the billionaire, born in Uzbekistan, a country of which he is an honorary citizen, indicates: “I am still subject to unjustified restrictions, which I am currently challenging in court. In this regard, I declare that I have always acted in the best interests of the FIE and that I will continue to take all necessary measures to prevent the legally unfounded restrictions imposed on me from being extended to the FIE and its activities. »
Despite this context, Mr. Ousmanov intends “keep fencing on the podium of the most popular Olympic sports” in the years to come.
