Russian oligarch Alysher Usmanov again heads the International Fencing Federation.
The advance dissemination by the FIE leadership of a letter of support for Usmanov by more than 100 national federations indicated a pre-written script. The Ukrainian Fencing Federation has long understood that appealing to conscience and humanity does not make any impression on foreign sports functionaries.
Consequently, in addition to protests, the FFU reacts to all illegal and immoral actions on a legal level and will act in this way. These actions ensured the participation of our athletes in the Olympics and the absence of Russians there, the National Fencing Federation of Ukraine said in a statement.
In early November, Usmanov, who is under EU sanctions, agreed to pay 4 million euros to close a money laundering case in Germany.
The investigation of the case was completed on October 11, 2024, with the consent of the accused in exchange for payment of a fee. In particular, Usmanov must transfer 1.5 million euros to several non-profit organizations, and he must pay another 2.5 million euros to the German state budget.
Two more cases are being investigated against Usmanov in Germany: tax evasion for a “three-digit” amount of millions of euros and failure to declare assets in Germany. He rejects these suspicions.
In October, Usmanov sued a German journalist for accusing him of bribing judges at the Olympic Games. Hans-Joachim Seppelt is a journalist with many professional awards, an ARD expert on doping and sports policy, who has covered, among other things, the Olympic Summer and Winter Games.
In the article “Suspected judges at the Olympics – 5,000 euro bribe in saber fencing” dated August 4, Seppelt accused the Russian-Uzbek billionaire Usmanov of bribing and manipulating judges in international fencing.
Usmanov, who voluntarily suspended his activities as president of international fencing at the beginning of 2022 due to EU sanctions, was accused, among other things, of “establishing a system of bribing judges.”
The billionaire went to civil court. Hamburg banned Seppelt’s statement as “an unacceptable assumption and a violation of individual rights.”
However, this decision was not enough for Usmanov. He wants Seppelt to answer under the criminal code. On October 8, he filed a complaint with the Cologne prosecutor’s office. The billionaire’s lawyers reported this.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.