Russian Army Major to compete at Fencing World Championships

Russians with direct ties to the military will be allowed to compete in the upcoming Fencing World Championships in the Georgian capital Tbilisi (July 22-30). The International Fencing Federation (FIE) decided to no longer conduct screening tests on Russian and Belarusian athletes, as has been customary since the start of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine .

In the future, membership in military clubs will no longer be an exclusion criterion. This means that top Russian fencer Sofya Velikaya will also be able to compete in Tbilisi. The 40-year-old sabre fencer won two gold medals in the team event and three silver medals in the individual event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and 2021 in Tokyo. Velikaya is a member of the CSKA Moscow Army Club and holds the rank of major.

"This is an absolute no-go for me," said a high-ranking European fencing official, who wished to remain anonymous, regarding Velikaya's participation in the World Championships. He was "outraged" by the FEI's decision to abolish independent vetting of athletes from Russia and Belarus, the official told DW.

"A farce from the start"

Even in Ukraine , where Russian attacks continue unabated after almost three and a half years of war, anger at the FEI is high. "This is a slap in the face not only to Ukrainian athletes, but to the entire international sports community," said Mykhailo Ilyashev, president of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation. "We have emphasized from the beginning that the entire process of testing Russian fencers for neutrality is a farce."

In future, the FEI will only require athletes from Russia and Belarus to sign a form declaring their neutrality. They are prohibited from making public statements supporting the war or participating in related rallies. The fencers' declarations will no longer be monitored by an independent third party.

Velikaya not at the Olympic Games in Paris

The FEI's change of course contradicts the neutrality rules established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 2024 Games in Paris. Athletes were not allowed to compete if they were "under contract with the Russian or Belarusian military or national security services." Velikaya was not allowed to participate in the Olympic competitions in the French capital because of her military affiliation.

In June, Ukraine had already complained about Velikaya's nomination to the FEI Athletes' Commission. She was not only a major, but also "a confidante" of Russian President Vladimir Putin , the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and the country's Fencing Federation stated: "Such a person cannot be recognized as neutral and has no right to be part of the international sports world—let alone to represent the interests of athletes around the world." Aggressor states, they continued, "use sport not for dialogue and unity, but as a means of propaganda."

FIE: Testing too "complicated and expensive"

Like many other international sports federations, the FIE, in accordance with IOC rules, had previously commissioned a cybersecurity company and an independent lawyer to review the information it had collected on Russian and Belarusian fencers. In a letter to member federations dated July 7, the FIE described this process as "complicated and particularly expensive" and stated that it wanted to "simplify the process to make it faster and more cost-effective."

This is the second time in three months that the FIE has opposed the IOC's line: In April, the world governing body had proposed allowing "neutral" athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in team events. This was not permitted at the Paris Games. Asked by DW for comment on the FIE's differing policy, the IOC replied that in all sports, the respective world governing body is "the sole authority for international competitions outside the Olympic Games." The FIE has not yet responded to a DW inquiry.

Is a Russian billionaire still pulling the strings?

According to experts, fencing has long been under strong Russian influence. In March 2023, fencing was among the first sports to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete again as "neutral" athletes.

In November 2024, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov was re-elected for a fifth term as FIE President – ​​despite the European Union once calling him “one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs” and the fact that he is under sanctions in nearly 40 countries.

Usmanov, who rejects the label of oligarch, single-handedly financed the sport of fencing for years. He resigned from the presidency just days after his re-election. It is suspected that he continues to pull the strings behind the scenes.

Another fencing source told DW that Usmanov's influence was "obvious," but the main blame lies with the FIE Executive Committee. The recent decisions of the International Fencing Federation were "simply unacceptable, while the IOC and the vast majority of the sporting world maintain reasonable restrictions on the right of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete."

This article was adapted from the original English article "Russian army major to compete at fencing world championships" .