Maxim Paramonov: “FIE Needs Efficient Power Vertical“

Valery DIKEVICH, Tatyana KOLCHANOVA

After election of Alisher Usmanov as the President of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), Maxim Paramonov (Ukraine) was designated to the post of the Secretary General of this organization.

In his interview the Secretary General of the FIE, who is still the Member of the Executive Committee of the European Fencing Confederation (EFC), told us about the implementation of the election program of Mr. Usmanov, work on the modifications of fencing rules and calendar reforming, allocation of funds within the frameworks of the program of confederations development, and Olympic prospects of our sport. We are sure that this interview will be very interesting for our visitors.

THE OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT

- Maxim, what are your functions in the capacity of the FIE Secretary General?

- According to the Statutes of the FIE, the President controls all current affairs with the participation of the Secretary General and Secretary Treasurer. Then the taken decisions must be adopted by the Executive Committee. Together with the President, the Treasurer and three Vice-Presidents, the Secretary General is a Member of the Bureau – one of the most important managing bodies of the FIE. The Secretary General also plays an important role in funds management, signing a part of financial documents together with the President and the Treasurer. Finally, he automatically acts for the President in courts, if the President cannot be present at court hearings in person. Thus, the Secretary General is an official representative of the President for a wide range of problems. And the most important issue is that it is the Secretary General who is responsible for the implementation of Mr. Usmanov’s election program.

- So you have a lot of work to do?

- Yes, a lot of work, and I’m afraid I will have even more in the future. A lot of meetings and telephone calls, e-mails, frequent air flights… All that takes up tons of time. I have to travel all the time to Kiev, where I have a small office, Lausanne, where the FIE Head Office is located, and Moscow, where the President works and lives. From time to time I have to attend the events of the World Cup. Moreover, I don’t stop working during the competitions. By the middle of the Junior and Cadet World Championships in Belfast I had held 49 different meetings and conferences, and then I stopped counting. On the other hand, it all proves that a lot of people are are concerned by the future of fencing, and that they lay great hopes on the election of the new President.

- What first-priority tasks does the FIE have to cope with this year?

- Some tasks have already been fulfilled. First of all, the new management had to organize non-stop work, i.e. we had to do our best for the National Federations, athletes and fencing community not to feel the slowdown of the FIE Head Office activities in the period of “interregnum”. We managed to do so: the competitions are held on schedule, with a proper level of organization, according to the existing rules. The FIE lives its normal life.

- And was there any risk that the competitions would not be held on schedule and in accordance with the existing rules?

- No, of course not, but there was certainly a risk of deterioration of their organizational level, as well as reduction of control over the running of competitions on the part of the FIE. There was a great risk of decrease in general efficiency of the FIE operation. But due to the appointment of Nathalie Rodriguez to the position of the Chief Executive Officer and the stay of Ioan Pop in the office of the Technical Director, we managed to avoid all these risks.

THREE PRINCIPLES AND THREE INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS

- Did you manage to start implementing the election program of Alisher Usmanov?

- Certainly. For the realization of this program we made up step-by-step plans, which are aimed at the realization of three main tasks.

The first task is the change of normative base. That will enable our Federation to function in the best possible way under the new conditions of the development of sports in the world. Now we are engaged in the collection and analysis of proposals for the improvement of the normative base. We receive such proposals both from the members of the FIE Commissions and the national federations, as well as from the fencing community. A part of these proposals was considered at the meeting of the Executive Committee, which was held in Lausanne in April. All modifications, adopted by the Executive Committee, will be submitted for approval to the FIE Congress (it will take place in Palermo, Italy, at the end of November).

The second and not less important area is the program of confederations development. This year we allocated 1.7 million Swiss francs for this program, and next year we plan to appropriate approximately 2.4 million Swiss francs. We took a decision to build up a power vertical – “FIE – zonal confederations – national federations”, in which confederations will have a well-deserved place.

The third area is media-promotion of fencing. Together with the President of the Publicity and Promotion Commission Frantisek Janda from Czech Republic and a number of other specialists we worked out a strategic plan, which is justified both from ideological and financial points of view.

MODIFICATIONS IN RULES: WORK IS GOING ON ROUTINELY

- Let’s dwell upon each item. Athletes, coaches of the national teams and coaches working in different cities wonder if there will be any changes in the rules and their interpretation for sabre and foil…

- This is only a part of the issue of introduction of modifications in the normative base of the FIE. Unfortunately, many fencers are very ignorant in legal matters. That is why I would like to clarify this matter. Thus, the normative base consists, first of all, of the Statutes, which comprise general provisions. Modifications in this document may be introduced only by the FIE Congress. Secondly, it includes Administrative Rules. Modifications in this document may be introduced by the Executive Committee. Thirdly, these are the rules of competitions, which comprise material and technical and organizational sections. Material and technical section concerns the time of blocking and other technical details, organizational section concerns the formula of running competitions. That is why we assume that if any modifications are introduced, it will happen at the FIE Congress in Palermo.

However, an extraordinary congress may also be convened, but it will happen only under certain conditions. We must see that the coming proposals prove the unanimous desire of national federations to introduce modifications in the rules as soon as possible. If such precedent is created, then the governing bodies of the FIE will satisfy the desire of the fencing community.

- Having the keen sense of the pulse of the fencing world, what are your predictions on the probability of such developments?

- The probability of convening of an extraordinary congress is rather low. Work on the calendar, as well as the process of introduction of modifications in the rules of competitions is going on routinely. All the proposals on the modificaions are first discussed at the meetings of the special working group, which consists of Ioan Pop, Nathalie Rodriguez and your faithful servant. We also intend to attract competent athletes and coaches to the discussion of these issues.

- In what way?

- We will send a questionnaire, which will have such boxes as “Name”, “Type of Weapon” and “My Proposals on the Modifications in the Rules” to the national federations. Probably, it will also have a photo of an athlete. The federations will copy this questionnaire and distribute the copies among the leading athletes, coaches and judges. Then the filled-in documents will be sent to the FIE Head Office, where they will be analyzed and taken into consideration by the working group.

Besides, we intend to invite the leading athletes to the meeting of the working group. For example, it will be six Olympic Champions in individual tournament in Beijing. Thus, the process will be open and transparent, and not “backstage”, as it used to be.

- What’s your estimation of the degree of activity of the presidents and members of different commissions in the period of concretization and particularization of the program of the FIE actions?

- Alas, far from all of them participate actively in the implementation of Mr. Usmanov’s program. However, those who think that they may hold any offices in the FIE doing nothing, as it used to be, are wrong. Such “doers” will, in the end, find themselves out of the margins of the processes aimed at the development of world fencing.

CALENDAR REFORM: INFLUENCED BY TV

- The second painful problem of the modern fencing, besides the modifications in the rules, is the reform of the international calendar. Why did the FIE Executive Committee deny the proposal on the putting-off of the World Championship until August, which had been made, in particular, by such large and influential federations as the Russian and German ones?

- Of course it would be much more convenient for athletes and coaches to participate in the World Championship if it were held in summer: the season would not be divided into unequal parts, it would be much easier to plan the preparation for this important start. But in the age of television we cannot neglect the interests of TV. And fencing, if we want to popularize this sport, cannot do without TV. In July-August (and this is the peak of holiday season) the TV audience objectively reduces, and in autumn we can fight for the viewers. That is why the Executive Committee decided that it would be reasonable to hold World Championships in autumn as before, and Junior World Championships – in spring.

- Why are the urgent changes in the calendar of the World Cup postponed until 2010–2011?

- The calendar of the next season, 2009/2010, really differs little from the existing one. The fact is that we cannot violate the agreements with sponsors and advertisers, which have already been reached by the organizers of the competitions. Besides, many national calendars were made assuming that there would be no major changes in the international calendar.

But the calendar of 2010/2011 season will be completely different! There will be less competitions, they will be more evenly scheduled – not more than two competitions a month. The calendar will be more comfortable for athletes, they will not have to travel all the time to different countries between the continents, and they will have more time for efficient trainings.

At the same time we plan to enhance the requirements for all the aspects of organization of international tournaments, whether it is the meeting of athletes at the airport or the organization of bus transportation between the place where the athletes live and the site of competitions.

For the consideration of all these issues another working group was created. It includes Romanian Ana Pascu, the FIE Vice-President, Algerian Ferial Salhi, a Member of the FIE Executive Committee, Mexican Jorge Castro, the President of Pan-American Fencing Confederation, Australian Helen Smith, the President of Oceanian Fencing Confederation, and Ioan Pop and Nathalie Rodriguez. By the way, one of the responsibilities of this group is to take into account the interests of television as much as possible.

CONFEDERATIONS: SUPPORT IN RETURN FOR RESPONSIBILITY

- And now let’s dwell upon the program of confederations development. What “vertical” do you mean?

- The administrative and financial ones. Funds, allocated for this program, are meant for rendering support to the national federations. But at first they will be distributed among the confederations. In their turn, confederations will distribute them among national federations. Such pattern increases both the importance of confederations and the degree of their liabilities to the FIE. In my opinion it must be stated in the Statutes by means of introduction of corresponding amendments to it.

The program of confederations development is being implemented. First, the national federations filled-in the questionnaire, which included the questions of the level of fencing development and the plans of its further development in their countries. By the end of March – the beginning of April zonal confederations have summarized this information and sent it to the FIE. Basing upon the received answers, a group of competent specialists, created by the special direction of Alisher Usmanov (which included Ioan Pop, Nathalie Rodriguez, Ao Jie, the FIE Sports Director from China, German Max Geuter, the Member of the Executive Committee, the FIE Treasurer Peter Jacobs, and all the Presidents of Confederations), analyzed the existing situation and made conclusions concerning the improvement of the structure and nature of confederations activities. In the middle of April we could familiarize ourselves with the plans of the confederations development, worked out by this group. And at the end of April these documents, well-thought-out both from sports and financial points of view, were proposed for consideration of the Members of the FIE Executive Committee and generally approved by them. Now we are elaborating these documents, and also verify the structure of financial flows. I hope we will complete this work before the beginning of the championships of the continents.

- And why couldn’t you cooperate with the national federations directly, without the involvement of zonal confederations?

- We will have a direct cooperation, too. But vertically integrated structure is more efficient.

- Judging by the budget, adopted by the General Assembly, the program of support of federations and confederations is not limited only by the mentioned issues…

- Of course, not. This program envisages both financial support of the federations, for example, free distribution of equipment, and the opening of schools of coaches, and the training of coaches, and the organization of training meetings and trainings before World Championships and Junior and Cadet World Championships, organization of seminars and exams for judges, support of innovations and organizational development. It’s a large-scale and very significant program, I would say…

- What do you mean by organizational development?

- Just imagine the following situation: you would like to send a report form or a questionnaire to any national federation and you are trying to contact its management on the phone, by fax or e-mail. And only after a few days of the search you are finding the right person. It’s quite a real situation. The fact is that many federations are in an embryo state. They’ve got fencers but frequently they’ve got no Internet. That’s why for further development we are to create infrastructure including the organizational one. In particular, every federation has to appoint a contact person for regular steady communication with the FIE. And if they don’t have such a person you are to train him at the expense of the International federation: to arrange a workshop and provide all its participants with highly qualified advisors, proper nutrition and accommodation.

IDEAL BUDGET

- Why do you think the General Assembly did not discuss any budget issues?

- The Assembly did not discuss the budget as it had been thought over and prepared thoroughly by the Bureau members, Nathalie Rodriguez and me. By the way, later at the April meeting of the Executive Committee in Lausanne we could reach the consent of the agency for the opening of the financial year in January. This will facilitate solving of many issues, will make the budget more transparent both for the executives and common members of our organization.

- What is the percentage of Alisher Usmanov’s donations in the budgetary receipts?

- This percentage equals eighty five per cent excluding the receipts from the International Olympic Committee at the Beijing Olympic Games results. And this percentage will increase - at the FIE Executive Committee meeting Mr. Usmanov claimed his readiness to invest about USD 10 million in the world fencing development by the end of this year.

MEDIA-PROMOTION INTO FENCING PARADISE

- Let’s speak about Paramonov-Janda’s fencing media-promotion program.

- This is not Paramonov-Yanda’s program, this is the result of team work of a large group of specialists. Besides Frantisek Janda and me, this program is both Nathalie Rodriguez and Johen Farber, the FIE Television Director, and Marcos Lorenzo, the FIE Press-Secretary, and a number of other specialists.

- What is the essence of this program?

- Here are its highlights: creation of a working group on improvement of the fencing “TV product”, creation of a special working group on improvement of the competitions schedule (I’ve spoken about it already), updating of the “Escrime” magazine, search for the ways to make fencing more understandable, fashionable and modern.

- Please, could you speak on your last sentence in more details?

- We speak about our new design of the equipment and transparent masks. We would also like to make the motion of the weapon more apparent. This implies mutual projects with sport industry, show-business and universities representatives.

- So, you and Mr. Yanda and other partners are absolute supporters of transparent masks and you call for their improvement rather than for their cancellation, don’t you?

- Yes, we do, as such masks will let the television viewers to see the athletes emotions.

- Are you sure of that?

- Such a notable TV industry representative as Peter Diamond of NBC Opympics is speaking about it.

“PROBLEM OF 12 MEDALS”: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL IN THE HUMAN BREAST

- “First in terms of importance is the issue of inclusion of all fencing disciplines in the Olympic programme, with 12 sets of Olympic honors”, is said in the election program of Alisher Usmanov. So we also would like to ask the last but not the least question: what steps have been taken to solve this situation?

- Thanks to authority of Mr. Usmanov in the international sport circles they managed to agree on the meetings with IOC management. Such meetings were held in February in Lausanne. At the first meeting Mr. Usmanov and President of the IOC Jacques Rogge discussed this problem as a whole. I should mention that Mr. Rogge sent to Mr. Usmanov personal congratulations on the election as the FIE President. It proves that he hopes for further fencing development under the new FIE management. Later Mr. Usmanov had a meeting with the IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli, and the delegation led by me had a meeting with the IOC Sports Director, Christophe Dubi. Since that time the working contacts with the IOC haven’t discontinued for a day. It is an actual situation, so to say.

As for the ideological side of this issue, here we’ve got something to say to the International Olympic Committee. We have developed clear and reasoned offers. We have got a minimum program and a maximum program. The minimum program includes 12 medal sets without the increase of the number of participants in the Olympic fencing tournament. The maximum program is to get two additional medal sets and 36 additional participants. Considering that the special IOC committee accepted the applications for participation in the Olympics from seven federations, three of which claim the inclusion of team competitions into the Olympics itinerary it will be extremely difficult to solve the problem of providing extra vacancies. After the meetings with the IOC management we succeeded in clarifying this question to a certain extent at least.

Whatever may happen but I hope for the positive result, and moreover all the requirements from the IOC to the FIE for the latest decade have been taken into account. The main thing is that we do not demand the increase of the competition days and we do not insist on our maximum program providing for the additional number of the athletes and, consequently, the seats in the Olympic village. It is clear that there is no guarantee for success but we still hope. And as it is well known, hope springs eternal in the human breast.