Fédération Internationale d'Escrime

Fédération Internationale d'Escrime
Sport Fencing
Founded November 29, 1913
President Russia Alisher Usmanov
Official website www.fie.ch
Headquarters of the FIE at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne

The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) (English: International Fencing Federation) is the international governing body of Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 145 national federations, each of which is recognized by its country's Olympic Committee as the sole representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country.

Since its inception in 1913, there have been fourteen different presidents. The current president of the federation is Alisher Usmanov.

History

Allegory of fencing by Václav Česák, presented to the Olympic Museum by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime in celebration of its centenary

The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime is the heir of the Société d'encouragement de l'escrime founded in France in 1882, which took part in the global movement of structuring sport.[1] The first international fencing congress was held in Brussels, Belgium in 1897 at the instigation of the Fédération belge des cercles d'escrime, followed by another one in Paris in 1900.[2] At this occasion the Société organised one of the first international fencing events; French, Italian, Spanish, and Belgian fencers attended the competition.[3] Dissensions rapidly arose between epeists and foilists, which held the majority at the Société. The third congress held in Brussels in 1905 voted the creation of an international fencing committee whose mission would be of fostering friendship amongst all fencers, establishing national rules, and supporting the organization of fencing competitions.[4] The 3rd congress also adopted the French rules as the basis for upcoming international competitions. New tensions appeared, this time between France and Italy, about the regulatory weapon grip. They led to the boycott by France of the fencing events of the 1912 Olympic Games.[5] A new international congress was called together in Ghent, Belgium, in July 1913. The main matter was the adoption of international regulations for each of the three weapons. The French rules were adopted in épée and foil; the Hungarian rules were chosen for sabre.[6] Frenchman René Lacroix also campaigned for the creation of an international fencing federation.

The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime was founded on November 29, 1913, in the conference rooms of the Automobile Club de France in Paris.[7] The nine founding nations were Belgium, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway. Albert Feyerick, president of the Federation of fencing clubs of Belgium, was elected as the first president. The FIE held its first congress on June 23, 1914 and accepted the adhesion of seven new countries: Austria, Denmark, Monaco, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States.[8]

Events

Competitions organized by the FIE include the senior World Championships and World Cup, the Junior World Championships and Junior World Cup, the Cadets World Championships and the Veterans World Championships. The FIE delegates to regional confederations the organization of the zone championships.

The FIE assists the International Olympic Committee in the organization of fencing events at the Summer Olympics. The number of events is a matter of contention between the FIE and the CIO since the introduction of women's sabre at the 1999 World Championships: since then, the World Championships feature twelve events–an individual and a team weapon for each of the three weapons, for men and for women. However, the CIO refuses to increase the number of Olympic medals allocated to fencing. After much dithering the FIE decided to organize all six individual events, but only four team events decided on a rotational basis. The two team events excluded from the Olympic programme, one for men and one for women, compete instead in World championships.[9]

People

Presidents of the FIE

A list of FIE presidents from 1913 to the present:[10]

National federations

As of 2012, the FIE recognizes 145 affiliated national federations.[11]

Africa (CAE) America (CPE) Asia (AFC) Europe (CEE) Oceania (OFC)

Algeria
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Republic of the Congo
Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Egypt
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Guinea
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Morocco
Mauritania
Mauritius
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Togo
Tunisia

Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
United States
United States Virgin Islands
Uruguay
Venezuela

Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia
Bangladesh
Bahrain
Brunei
Cambodia
People's Republic of China
Korea
North Korea
United Arab Emirates
Philippines
Guam
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Macao
Myanmar
Malaysia
Mongolia
Nepal
Palestinian Territory
Qatar
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Syria
Thailand
 Chinese Taipei
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen

Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Belarus
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Croatia
Denmark
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Republic of Moldova
Monaco
Norway
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Czech Republic
United Kingdom
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom

Australia
New Zealand


Note: As of 7 July 2012, the Netherlands Antilles is still listed as an FIE Member nation and 146 member nations are listed on the FIE's membership page. However, after the country was dissolved, it lost its National Olympic Committee status in 2011. At the 2012 Olympics, athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles were eligible to participate as independent athletes under the Olympic flag (no fencers competed).

References

External links