Russian Candidate Victorious in International Fencing Federation Presidential Elections

Alisher Usmanov was re-elected president of the International Fencing Federation fourth time. He beat the Swedish candidate Otto Drakenberg with a majority of 120-26. Mr. Usmanov represents Russia and is subject to sanctions from 38 countries, among them the European Union members and the United States.

– This result was expected, says his opponent Otto Drakenberg. I was a candidate because I love my sport and care about its future.

Mr. Drakenberg is the president of the Swedish Fencing Federation.

– I am very pleased that we were able to show that the support for Mr. Usmanov is not unanimous. In the the Nordic and Baltic countries we are united in our views and this is important.

– Also, there was some debate before the elections. The last there elections, in 2026, 2016 and 2021, there has been no opponent to Mr. Usmanov in the presidential elections. This time, it was decided that the candidates would be allowed five minutes for presentation of their candidacies and also other federations were allowed to take the floor to give their opinions. Even if I received a lot of personal criticism from some countries, I was happy to hear my colleagues speak.

The countries that took the floor were Norway, Finland, Senegal, Kazakstan, Guinea, Venezuela, Ghana and Azerbaijan.

– What puzzled me a little bit is that Mr. Usmanov just before his speech handed over 104 envelopes to the presidium. These contained the pledge from 104 fencing federations to vote for Mr. Usmanov in the election. Somehow, I found this to be a little bit out of place and not in line with my perception of democracy.

Mr. Usmanov, who is a resident of Uzbekistan, was present only during the elections of president and left immediately after the results had been presented.