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≡ UIPM CONGRESS ≡
One of the least popular sports on the Olympic program is at a crossroads at its 73rd Congress up on 16-17 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: modern pentathlon.
The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) is scheduled to elect a new President as German Klaus Schormann, now 78, is retiring after becoming President in 1993. He won re-election in 1997-2001-05-09-13-17-21 – eight terms in all – with pentathlon essentially in the same situation as when he started: clinging to its position in the Olympic program, and principally funded by a share of the International Olympic Committee’s television rights.
The UIPM’s “Congress Book” of working papers related to the meeting includes a financial review showing the federation balance down to $1.52 million as of 31 August 2024. Consider the annual revenues shown for 2020 through 2024:
● 2020: $573,074 due to Covid
● 2021: $12,573,652, nearly all IOC TV revenue share
● 2022: $1,328,929
● 2023: $630,847
● 2024: $1,794,252 as of 31 August
The UIPM share of IOC television revenue from Tokyo 2020 – received mostly in 2021 – was $12.98 million, which has been made to stretch over four years. The federation’s expenses were:
● 2020: $2,160,874
● 2021: $3,473, 812
● 2022: $5,147,703
● 2023: $4,659,960
● 2024: $3,300,169 as of 31 August
So the balance is down to $1.52 million, with the UIPM expecting a new shot of IOC television money before the end of the year. It should be increased from the $12.98 million received for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, to perhaps $15 million as the distribution formula from the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) is now designed to create fewer tiers. There were five for Rio and Tokyo, with the UIPM on the bottom; the new concept is to have a top tier with athletics, aquatics and gymnastics, a second tier with five sports (basketball, cycling, football, tennis and volleyball) and everyone else – more than 20 sports – in the third tier.
Without the IOC’s television money, the UIPM would not function. In Schormann’s 31-year tenure, this is where his federation stands, still on the Olympic program for Los Angeles because it followed the IOC’s directive to eliminate riding from its event program, replacing it with obstacle racing and then quickly absorbing the obstacle racing federation (FISO), which also reported no revenues whatsoever.
A new President – there are three candidates – would be expected to look to find ways to remedy this situation and make the federation more self-sufficient. More on that in a moment, but a motion (EB2) submitted by the UIPM Executive Board expands the title of “Honorary President” – to be elected by the General Assembly – to specifically include governance tasks:
“16.2 The Executive Board may avail itself of the support and advice of any Honorary President. The Executive Board may task any Honorary President with representing the interests of UIPM in specific international relations, special development projects and/or any other tasks the Executive Board deem fit.
“16.3 The Executive Board may assign to any Honorary President funds to perform the tasks assigned pursuant to article 16.2.”
The justification is to provide a “clear definition of activities and tasks that could be attributed to honorary figures by the EB.”
Further, the Honorary President, currently without the right to speak or vote at the General Assembly, would now be able to speak, if invited to do so.
Stretched to its logical conclusion, passage of this motion would allow Schormann – if elected as Honorary President at this Congress – to effectively continue in office in conjunction with the new “President.”
This has been widely noticed, and already criticized, but that does not mean it will not have an excellent chance of passing.
So what about a new “President”: whether in name only, or in fact?
There are three candidates:
● Joel Bouzou (FRA): Now 69, he was the men’s bronze medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, was the 1987 World Champion, and is the obvious favorite, having been the UIPM Secretary General for 15 years beginning in the late 1990s. He has been a UIPM Vice President since 2012.
Insiders say that Bouzou has been campaigning hard and does not feel favored or a shoo-in.
● Sharif El Erian (EGY): A 1992 Olympian for Egypt, now 54, El Erian is the head of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation. That’s important, as Egypt has become a major power in the sport during his tenure, with Ahmed El-Gendy winning the Paris men’s gold this summer, and Egyptian entries winning nine medals in the last three Worlds. If anyone can claim development credentials, he can.
Can he carry the African and Middle East federations? A sign of possible doubt: he is also running as a candidate for Vice President should he not be elected President.
● Rob Stull (USA): A four-time U.S. Olympian in the sport, Stull was one of the long-time advocates for obstacle racing in the sport. Now 64, he is the Managing Director of USA Pentathlon and the head of the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NORCECA) confederation. He has been a UIPM Executive Board member since 2016.
Stull is dynamic and forward-looking, but U.S. candidates, especially, carry no geographic tug with surrounding countries, so each has to stitch together a coalition one-by-one, always difficult.
The chatter is that an obvious front-runner has not emerged. The discussion on the Executive Board motion 2 and the elections are slated as items 16 and 17 of the Congress agenda, so likely on the second day, with plenty of time for discussion beforehand.
Thus, it will be know prior to the elections what powers an “Honorary President” would have; if so, the candidates could well be asked their position on what they plan to cede – if anything – to Schormann.
Will the Congress elect a truly new UIPM President? A co-share? Or a front?
It’s clear that the International Olympic Committee will be watching, along with many more interested in this developing personal intrigue in a sport whose profile is so weak – 112 years after its Olympic debut – that few can even name the four (yes, four) events that make up today’s competition.
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