Fencing and cycling suspend SportAccord membership taking total to 20
- Friday, 22 May 2015
The International Fencing Federation (FIE) and the International Cycling Union (UCI) have suspended their memberships with SportAccord, increasing the total number of sports to 20.
The FIE's suspension was confirmed in a letter sent by President Alisher Usmanov to Marius Vizer, President of SportAccord.
Usmanov’s letter cites Vizer’s position towards the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the reason for suspending its membership, saying that he has caused harm to International Federations (IFs) and has not taken their interests into account.
He expresses his firm disagreement with Vizer’s contentious views and with the form and content of the accusations made in a speech directed towards the IOC and its President, Thomas Bach, at last month's SportAccord Convention in Sochi.
UCI followed suite this afternoon, confirming the decision had been ratified by its Management Committee "based on the events surrounding the SportAccord General Assembly".
Vizer alleged the IOC "lacked transparency", that its Agenda 2020 reform process had brought "hardly any benefit" to sport and that it had unfairly blocked SportAccord in its drive to organise new Commissions and events.
Every summer sport body except for the Vizer-led International Judo Federation signed a letter supporting the decision of the Association of Summer Olympic International Sports Federations (ASOIF) to "disassociate" its affiliation with SportAccord, while both the International Paralympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation have made a similar move.
Usmanov adds that the FIE could re-join SportAccord upon the establishment of constructive dialogue between SportAccord and the IOC, and if the association issues an official apology to Bach.
“In line with the principles of the Olympic Movement, which are based on honesty and transparency, I believe that Mr Vizer should re-assess his relations with the IOC and the international sporting federations and determine the principles for future co-operation,” said Usmanov.
“I would be happy to assist in any way possible to resolve these fundamental disagreements and establish constructive dialogue.”