Includes the President and International Relations Report. This article forms part of a series of reports which accompanies the 2023-24 BF Annual Report.
The past international season continued to be dominated by the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and the challenges stemming from the alignment of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) with the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as at Government level in many nations. In particular this has continued to cause havoc with the frequent cancellations and short-notice changes to the locations of events listed on the competition calendar that are due to take place in countries where visas are not obtainable by athletes from Russia and Belarus.
Also continuing have been the associated challenges that have faced the European Fencing Confederation (EFC), where some important decisions made by the EFC Executive Committee (ComEx) and the EFC Congress were not in line with those taken by the FIE ComEx and Congress. This caused a significant problem with the organisation of the European Olympic Games in Krakow, which was also planned to have the status of the European Championships. After much prolonged wrangling between the FIE and EFC the outcome was that the two events were required to be separated – the individual European Championships were moved to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, at no more than a few weeks’ notice, and the European Olympic individual fencing events were stripped of their Olympic qualifying points.
I would like to express my support to our athletes, coaches and officials who continued to face challenges in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I would also like to express my sympathy to all who are suffering at this time, and I continue to hope for the earliest possible resolution.
On a positive note – the EFC established a number of successful initiatives under the new leadership of President Giorgio Scarso, who has successfully guided Europe through these troubled times. Prominent among the President’s new projects is the Solidarity Programme, designed to share knowledge and experience and form closer relationships between the stronger fencing nations and the smaller or developing nations. Great Britain made its contribution by hosting a very successful international Safeguarding workshop during a weekend in Windsor, led by Georgina Usher. This workshop enabled 12 representatives across Europe to become qualified Safeguarding Officers able to officiate at future European events.
As Chair of British Fencing’s International Relations (IR) committee, which includes CEO Georgina Usher and Board Directo Pat Aiyenuro, I have continued to work closely with UK Sport’s IR representatives regarding our overall IR strategy and our long-term succession planning.
Georgina, Pat and I have continued to represent British Fencing throughout the period at the FIE and EFC international congresses and at their major championships. Within our IR Committee Pat continues to take the lead on wheelchair fencing activities alongside her many able-bodied fencing commitments.
Great Britain continues to have strong representation within the FIE, including:
Continuing EFC post-holders include:
We also have strong representation within International Wheelchair Fencing including:
As always, thanks are due to our many IR representatives who are all volunteers making their much-appreciated contributions to the world of fencing and its future.
Hilary Philbin, President
Click here for the full 2023-24 Annual Report.
