Russian oligarch, Alisher Usmanov, is set to be re-elected president of the International Fencing Federation in November after being confirmed as the only candidate for the position.
Usmanov is in line to secure a fourth term at the helm of the FIE when the worldwide governing body holds its elective congress in Lausanne on November 27.
Russia’s official state news agency, TASS, citing the FIE press department, reported Usmanov is the sole candidate for president.
Usmanov, whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes to be nearly $12 billion (£9 billion/€10 billion), was first elected in 2008 when he beat the incumbent, René Roch, of France, by 66 votes to 61.
The 68-year-old was re-elected in 2012 and 2016.
The FIE had been due to stage its elective congress in Moscow in 2020 before it was postponed and then moved to the Olympic capital because of COVID-19.
It had been unlikely that anyone would step forward to challenge Usmanov, the founder of Russian holding company, USM.
The deadline for candidates to run against Usmanov fell on October 18.
Since assuming power, Usmanov has donated around CHF80 million (£62 million/$86 million/€73 million) over the course of three Olympic cycles to 2020.
Last year, Usmanov paid $8,806,500 (£6,764,543/€7,916,191) to buy the historic manuscript in which Baron Pierre de Coubertin laid out plans to revive the Olympic Games, and has since donated the artifact to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
Outside of the Olympic Movement, Usmanov has ties to Premier League football club Everton as USM holds the naming rights to Everton’s new stadium once built.
USM chairman, Farhad Moshiri, is the majority owner of Everton.
