Usually they fight with foil and rapier, now it’s a mud fight: In the Swiss Fencing Association, the hard bandages are being unpacked these days.
It is about the successor to President Olivier Carrard, who is stepping down after 17 years at the helm of Swiss Fencing and would like to hand over the association to his vice-president Lars Frauchiger – but the former Olympic fencer himself is still involved in obtaining votes for his successor strong with. «This is my right and my job. I have to prevent the association from playing for relegation in the future, “says Carrard.
A trick with the licenses – or just coincidence?
Blick, there are indications from a credible source that Carrard has asked sympathetic clubs to buy additional membership licenses – after all, due to the corona pandemic, these currently only cost a quarter of the normal price. Background: Larger clubs have more votes at the GV on Saturday, where the new leadership is elected. A trick.
Can a current president intervene in the election campaign like this? «This is an assumption and therefore wrong. I don’t know what the clubs are doing about this, ”says Carrard. It is possible that clubs are currently registering members who were previously not registered as active. “Which in the end is positive for the association fund.”
Schaffhausen President is angry
Arie Späth, President of the Schaffhausen Fencing Society, reacts indignantly. “We smaller clubs have been threatened with severe consequences for years if we don’t license all of our fencers,” he says. “I wonder where these members are suddenly supposed to come from.” What also irritates him: “Our club has 29 licensed fencers, but we are only led before the AGM when we are 25.” A club has one vote at the General Assembly up to 25 licenses, and two after 26. His suspicion: rebellious clubs should be deliberately kept small.
The Schaffhausen club is one of almost 20 clubs that dragged the association to the arbitration authority in Bern last year because Swiss Fencing did not hold a general meeting with new board elections. “Ironically in the year in which there were finally opponents,” said Späth.
Critic: “You’re ‘in’ or ‘out'”
For the other side, this fits in with the culture that has established itself in the association in recent years. The top of the association consists of old rope teams, is not transparent, power is deliberately not shared, individual families and large clubs are preferred. “You’re either ‘in’ or ‘out’,” says an association insider who doesn’t want to be named. “Some of them probably don’t even notice it.”
Still-President Carrard, who has undisputed merits in the field of top-class sport, says on the accusation of lack of transparency: “You need an experienced team that you can trust. This is the only way for a small association like the fencing association to be successful. The Frauchiger team guarantees that this experience will be retained by the association. “
The designated boss promises: More hearing for the broad
Carrard’s designated successor, Frauchiger, confirms that there has been a strong focus on top-class sport in recent years. “We have recognized this and are committed to taking greater account of the width in future. We have already introduced improvements in communication. ” He thinks it is astonishing that there is now criticism that there is too little say for small and medium-sized clubs: “For a long time, nobody got involved. Of course we are open to input. “
Christophe Gächter from Biel also wants to become president and is therefore the head of the candidates who are not in Frauchiger’s team. “It is important for us that our members have a choice at all,” he says. «I see myself as a connector. We hope that some of our candidates will be elected so that new perspectives can also find room on the board.
Is that realistic? A member of Frauchiger’s crew has already announced that he does not want to work with candidates from the Gächter group. Has the last Strauss not yet fought with the General Assembly on Saturday? Frauchiger: “I assume that we as sports people will shake hands after the election and move forward together. No matter how it turns out: I hope that we will advance our sport together. ”