Newly Elected FIE President Steps Back – Again (Updated at 4 December 22.44)

Updated 4 December 2024 at 22.39 CET

At 18.22 today the Swedish Fencing Federation received the following urgent letter from the FIE, confirming the original information about the events in the original text below:

Decision of the FIE Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the FIE met on 1 December 2024 and was informed of Mr Alisher Usmanov's decision to voluntarily suspend the exercise of his powers and duties as President of the International Fencing Federation in order to ensure efficient operations of the federation.

The Executive Committee has accepted and ratified Mr Alisher Usmanov's decision to suspend the exercise of his powers and duties as President of the FIE.

In accordance with Article 5.1 of the FIE Statutes, under which the management of the FIE in between Congresses is entrusted to an Executive Committee, and in order to ensure the smooth running of the FIE, the Executive Committee appointed Mr Emmanuel Katsiadakis as Interim President.

Mr Emmanuel Katsiadakis has accepted. As Interim President, he will therefore assume all the functions of the President of the FIE, as provided for in the FIE Statutes and other regulations. The Executive Committee's decision will be submitted to the FIE Congress for ratification at its next meeting.

[Signed Emanuel Katsiadakis, interim president]

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On Saturday, 30 November, the elective congress of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Alisher Usmanov, the Russian candidate, was elected president by an overwhelming majority. Usmanov received 120 votes, defeating his opponent Otto Drakenberg from the Swedish Fencing Federation, who garnered 26 votes.

However, multiple sources have informed the Swedish Fencing Federation that, during the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee the following morning, Usmanov resigned from the presidency. Emanuel Katsiadakis, a member of the executive committee from Greece, is expected to replace him as interim president.

"This is exactly the sequence of events we anticipated and communicated to the FIE in advance. Yet, before the election, no one was willing to discuss this with us," said Otto Drakenberg, Usmanov's opponent in the election.

Alisher Usmanov has been under sanctions since March 2022, imposed by the European Union and Switzerland. The sanctions remain in place, with no change in the situation. In February 2024, the General Court of the European Union rejected his appeal against these sanctions (Case T-237/22).

Given that the FIE's headquarters are based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Usmanov "stepped back" from the presidency to protect the organization from the potential consequences of sanctions imposed on him personally. In accordance with the FIE statutes, Emanuel Katsiadakis, the FIE's Secretary General at the time, was appointed as the interim president. Additionally, Gulnora Saidova, Secretary General of the Uzbek Fencing Federation, was appointed as the new Secretary General of the FIE.

Usmanov issued a statement on 30 November in a press release, asserting:
"As is well known, I remain subject to unjustified restrictions, which I am currently challenging in court. I want to make it clear that I have always acted in the best interests of the FIE and will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent these legally unfounded restrictions from affecting the FIE and its activities."

The future of the FIE presidency remains uncertain. The FIE statutes do not address the concept of a president "stepping back." According to Article 5.3.1, in the event of the president's death or resignation, the Secretary General assumes the president’s duties provisionally until the next Congress, at which a new president is elected.

The appointment of someone other than the Secretary General as interim president suggests the current arrangement may persist for an extended period. It is unclear whether elections will take place at the 2025 Congress, as required by the statutes, or if the FIE will remain without an elected president until the next ordinary elective congress in 2028.

The executive committee refrained from holding elections at the 2022 and 2023 congresses, despite Usmanov's resignation, and there is speculation that a similar approach will be taken this time. "I would not be surprised if the same procedure is followed," said Otto Drakenberg. "In any case, we see no possibility in the statutes for Usmanov to return if he has resigned. He would need to be re-elected by Congress."

As of now, the FIE website still lists the former executive committee, with no updates from the recent congress.