and the United States. Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was elected president of the FIE in 2008 with 66 votes to 61 for incumbent president René Roch. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. In 2021, Usmanov was re-elected by acclamation to a fourth term, for which he was congratulated by Vladimir Putin. On 28 February 2022, in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union blacklisted Usmanov, imposing an EU-wide travel ban on him and freezing all of his assets. The EU stated: "He has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putin’s favourite oligarchs." Following the imposition of the sanctions on him, Usmanov announced on 1 March 2022, in an accusatory letter, that he was stepping down as FIE President. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIE agreed with the European Fencing Confederation to ban Russian and Belarusian fencers, and reallocated competitions that were due to be held in Russia and Belarus. 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. People Presidents of the FIE A list of FIE presidents from 1913 to the present: 1913–1921: Albert Feyerick 1921–1924: André Maginot 1925–1928: George van Rossem 1929–1932: Eugène Empeyta 1933–1948: Paul Anspach 1949–1952: Jacques Coutrot 1953–1956: Giuseppe Mazzini 1957–1960: Pierre Ferri 1961–1964: Miguel de Capriles 1965–1980: Pierre Ferri 1981–1984: Giancarlo Brusati 1984–1992: Rolland Boitelle 1993–2008: René Roch 2008–2022: Alisher Usmanov Athletes National federations As of 2019, the FIE recognizes 157 affiliated national federations. {| class="wikitable"