Ukrainian champion spoke about the corrupt influence of Russians on the results of competitions.
Two-time Olympic champion in fencing Olga Harlanharshly criticized the International Fencing Federation (FIE), including the election of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov as president of the organization.
“This means that money decides a lot in sports too. That's all. I don't have many comments on this topic, because, to be honest, I'm sick of this behavior of the international federation. I'm not talking about the president who was elected now, I'm talking about the entire federation.
Because it is a very big organization that supports, that wants to play this game with corruption and so on in our sport. And it is very widespread influence of Russians or Uzbeks or someone else on the results. There is even a video, and we see it at competitions, and it is very bad. We will not be able to do anything about it, because this machine is very big and, unfortunately, money decides a lot.
So when I saw these results, when I heard that he was running for president, I wasn’t surprised at all. Not at all. I knew that he was supported, but I didn’t think that it would be 126 countries (actually 120 – ed.). Well, seriously, I didn’t think it would be 126 countries. I thought, well, 90, well, 100. 26 countries voted for another candidate. What are you talking about? “I was shocked, to be honest,” Harlan said in an interview with Liga Life.
We will add that a few days after his election, Usmanov voluntarily resigned as FIE president.
Usmanov had previously headed the International Fencing Federation from 2008 to 2022, when he resigned as FIE president after the European Union imposed sanctions on him.
The decision to impose sanctions on him was justified by the fact that Usmanov has “especially close ties” with the president of the aggressor state, Vladimir Putin.
We will remind you that Harlan won two medals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris: team gold and bronze in the individual championship. Olga now has six Olympic awards to her credit. She has become Ukraine's absolute record holder for medals won at Olympics.
