MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov was elected president of the International Fencing Federation at the body’s congress in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent on Saturday, the businessman’s representative said.
Usmanov, who according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index has a total net worth of $14.4 billion, made his fortune in mining, industry, telecoms, and media. He has been a major donor to international fencing through his charity fund.
Usmanov was first elected FIE president in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
The 71-year-old, currently under European Union and United States sanctions and a travel ban, stepped down as president of the federation after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine but was nominated for a return to the post.
His candidacy got the backing of 120 out of 146 federation members who voted, his representative said. Usmanov was running against 58-year-old Swedish former Olympian Otto Drakenberg.
Greek Emmanuel Katsiadakis served as interim president.
“Our beloved sport is growing in popularity, despite attempts to turn the world of sport, and fencing in particular, into an arena for some unsportsmanlike battles,” Usmanov told Reuters after his election.
Russian and Belarusian fencers were initially banned from international competition after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine but the FIE became one of the first federations to allow them back into competition the following year.
No Russian or Belarusian fencers took part in this year’s Paris Olympics as none of the athletes from the two countries who were deemed eligible to compete as neutral athletes entered the qualifiers.
Usmanov practiced professional fencing in his youth and was a member of Uzbekistan’s national sabre team.
He has said in many interviews that his passion for fencing was inspired in his childhood by “The Three Musketeers,” a novel by 19th-century French writer Alexandre Dumas.
Usmanov praised recent reforms in international fencing that have made it a “universally accessible sport” and the International Olympic Committee’s decision to grant fencing the full medal count at the Olympics.
“The last two Olympic cycles have been a global triumph for fencing. We see medallists from new countries and new continents, and millions of new fans falling in love with our sport,” Usmanov said.
(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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