Is this the consequence of a new dysfunction of the French Fencing Federation, locked for months in picrocholine wars – between the internal struggles to recover the presidency since the resignation of Bruno Gares, the subject of an investigation for embezzlement , and the deep differences between the headliners of men’s epee and the DTN – or is it an assumed desire? It’s still too early to tell.
Still, the historic Challenge Monal, a men’s epee event which has existed since 1938, is in the process of disappearing for good. While the 2024 edition takes place this weekend, organized for the first time by the fencing club (where, among others, the Olympic champion of the discipline, Romain Cannone, is licensed) and the city of Saint-Maur- des-Fossés (who came to the relay at the Coubertin stadium in Paris), the municipal team, which hoped to perpetuate this welcome, had “the very unpleasant surprise of learning this Friday morning that the Federation had not included this event on the calendar international competitions for next year, thus sacrificing the queen event of French fencing,” indicates to Le Figaro a source close to the mayor of the town of Val-de-Marne. Discovering that the event will no longer even take place in France next year, but in another country.
Via a press release, the mayor of Saint-Maur des Fossés, Sylvain Berrios, revealed his anger at this unilateral withdrawal while after a last minute cancellation in 2023, the interim president of the FFE had assured him of commitment for 2024 and 2025. “It would be an incomprehensible decision, even though France dominates the discipline and has significant chances of winning medals this summer. It would also be a disrespectful decision for all the volunteers who are involved in the success of the Monal and for the communities who are financially committed to organizing the event. Finally, and above all, it would be a decision to renounce the historic role of France in this discipline, whose official language is French. Let us also point out that, according to our information, the FFE does not contribute one euro to the financing of the Challenge Monal. Which makes this choice all the more incomprehensible.
Despite this blow, the municipality is not giving up and hopes to mobilize French sports stakeholders to save the prestigious Challenge Monal. “There is still time”, we are assured, hoping that “the FFE will listen to reason and defend the maintenance of all Fencing World Cups organized in France”. For decades, France, a leading fencing country with more than 120 Olympic medals won, has hosted three World Cup events, one in each weapon: epee (Saint-Maur), saber (Orléans) and foil ( Paris).