Italian politician Luciano Rossi defeated Russian millionaire Vladimir Lisin to become the new President of the International Shooting Sport Federation
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In an extremely close and combative election, Italian politician Luciano Rossi defeated Russian millionaire Vladimir Lisin to become the new President of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) on November 30, 2022. The German Shooting Federation reported that Rossi received 136 votes, while Lisin received 127, in a statement from the ISSF announcing the result. Rossi was running against Lisin for the second time after losing by four votes for the then-vacant presidency in 2018.
Despite requests from certain nations for him to reconsider his position in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and his claimed strong ties to President Vladimir Putin, Lisin, whose net worth is reported to be around $25.4 billion, had refused to resign from his post as the ISSF’s leader. There were also claims that Lisin’s business, Novolipetsk, had supplied steel for the Russian military, particularly its nuclear weapons development, which he had rejected.
No Olympic International Federation is now headed by a Russian after Lisin’s defeat and the decision of oligarch, Alisher Usmanov, to temporarily resign from his position at the International Fencing Federation after receiving sanctions from the European Union in the month of March. The International Boxing Association is led by Umar Kremlev who is a Russian, although the International Olympic Committee does not now recognize it anymore.
After being announced as the elected president, Rosi said to Insidethegames, “I am naturally delighted with this result. Certainly with this result today my determination and passion for the sport of shooting is rewarded. I thank everyone, in particular, my family and those who enthusiastically voted for me.” He added, “But I also thank those who did not vote for me because I truly intend to be everyone’s President for the relaunch of our sport and for the democratic management of the International Federation.” He further said, “I promise to continue with even more energetic commitment to the work for the development of shooting for a better future of that sporting activity which is my life and which I love most.”
