Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born Russian billionaire founder of USM and former president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), has filed a criminal complaint against German TV channel ARD journalist Hans-Joachim Seppelt.
Usmanov's complaint, submitted to the Cologne prosecutor’s office, follows accusations made by Seppelt in an August 2024 ARD report, which alleged that Usmanov orchestrated a system for bribing judges within the sport of fencing. The accusations centered on incidents during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Georgian fencer Sandro Bazadze's defeat in the 1/8 finals was controversially attributed to biased refereeing.
The complaint, confirmed by Usmanov's lawyer, Joachim Steinhöfel, argues that Seppelt’s report not only violated journalistic standards but aimed to damage the businessman's reputation without concrete evidence.
"Seppelt wanted to tarnish Mr. Usmanov's reputation, but he had no facts. This is not journalism, it is a disgrace," Steinhöfel stated.
In October 2024, the Hamburg Regional Court ruled in favor of Usmanov, issuing an injunction that barred ARD from further disseminating the allegations. Following the court's decision, ARD removed the report from its platform, though it remained accessible via cached versions.
While Seppelt has not commented extensively on the situation, citing a lack of formal notification, he stated that he had not been informed of the legal proceedings and thus could not respond to the claims.
The accusations in ARD’s report highlighted a loss by Bazadze, who, after his defeat, blamed biased refereeing. However, Bazadze’s father, Merab Bazadze, president of the Georgian Fencing Federation, later retracted the claims, apologizing to the FIE. The acting president of FIE, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, also dismissed the allegations, pointing out that referees for fencing matches are assigned by computer half an hour before a match, minimizing the risk of manipulation.
Usmanov, a former Master of Sports in fencing, led the FIE from 2008 until he voluntarily suspended his duties in March 2022, following EU sanctions. The accusations from Seppelt are the latest in a string of controversies involving the journalist, who previously uncovered Russia’s state-sponsored doping scandal in 2014, leading to numerous athlete suspensions.
The Cologne prosecutor's office has yet to confirm whether a criminal investigation will be initiated.
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