News

 

On 31st May, in a letter signed Emanuel Katsiadakis, interim President, the FIE explained decisions made, by the FIE's executive committee culminating in commanding the EFC to organise an individual Zonal Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from 16th to 18th June.

Mr Katsiadakis confirmed that the FIE had decided that:

• The fencing team events of the European Games 2023 are to be accepted as Team European Championships and are going to be valid for Olympic qualification points.

• The individual fencing competitions of the European Games 2023 are not to be accepted as Individual European Championships 2023 and are not going to be valid for Olympic qualification points.

• The European Fencing Confederation must organise a separated Individual European Championship 2023 in June, before the WCH in Milan. The points awarded in this competition will be valid for Olympic qualification.

• The FIE will provide financial support for the organisation of this additional competition.

The EFC acknowledges with regret the fact that the FIE has taken these decisions, only published with today's letter. The EFC balanced the legal arguments and the clear discrimination of European fencers that would come from not being able to collect points from the European championship and agreed that there was no good solution and that it should allow European fencers to gain qualification points.

Consequently, the EFC agreed to cooperate with the FIE on organising the event the FIE decided.

The EFC's Technical Director and Secretary General have started working on preparations for this additional event and will publish the relevant documents as soon as possible.