Thomas Bach’s sport remains under control of Putin’s favourite oligarch but everyone too scared to say anything

The FIE has been led by interim Presidents for more than three years since Alisher Usmanov "voluntarily" stood down but the Russian oligarch still maintains control of a sport he bankrolls

Good governance and transparency have been two of Thomas Bach’s mantras during his time as President of the International Olympic Committee. So, it is ironic that the sport which has shown the least willingness to embrace these two pillars is fencing (did you know that Bach won an Olympic gold medal with the West German foil team at Montreal 1976?)

The International Fencing Federation has been under the control of Alisher Usmanov, often described as Vladimir Putin’s favourite oligarch, since 2008 when he was elected President. He was re-elected as head of the FIE at its Congress in the Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the country of his birth, last December despite being sanctioned in nearly 40 countries.

Usmanov earned a fifth time as President, winning 120 votes, compared to 26 for his challenger, Otto Drakenberg, head of the Swedish Fencing Federation. It was the first time Usmanov had been challenged, but it was no surprise that support held firm for the billionaire whose financial contributions to the FIE over the years have kept the sport alive and are now approaching $100 million.