The chairman of the European Shooting Sports Federation, Alexander Ratner, has sued the Finnish Shooting Sports Federation.
Russian-born president of the European Shooting Sports Confederation (ESC). Alexander Ratner threatened last fall, through his lawyer, to sue the Finnish Shooting Sports Association (SAL) on defamation-type grounds.
This has now happened. In addition to SAL, Ratner has also sued the Italian president of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Luciano Rossi and the Italian Shooting Sports Federation.
Ratner is seeking EUR 100,000 in damages. The court is held in Germany.
This is what the dispute is about
Last fall, it was reported that the Finnish Shooting Sports Association has been working hard in order to have a vote of confidence in the management of the European Shooting Sports Association. The federation is still led by the Russian-German Alexander Ratner, who was elected ESC president in the fall of 2021.
Finland and many other European countries have been outraged by Ratner’s actions. This, among other things, supported a Russian oligarch as chairman of the International Shooting Sports Federation ISSF in 2022 Vladimir Lisin.
Read more: A big storm in shooting sports: The Finns want the autocratic Russian boss out, responded with a sharp threat – “Siinäpää is threatening”
The leadership of the Finnish Shooting Sports Association has criticized Ratner in public in very harsh terms. Finland had sent a letter to the members of the ESC in which they told about the violations made by Ratner. Among other things, Ratner had used ESC’s website and social media to push Lisin to head the ISSF. According to Finland, this was against all the rules of the game.
In the opinion of the Finns, both Ratner and Lisin have led shooting sports completely arbitrarily, without caring about democratic principles and the rules of the federations.
Already in the fall, the German law firm responded on Ratner’s behalf by sending a letter to the Finnish Shooting Sports Association. In the letter, the Finnish Federation was threatened with legal action if Finland did not withdraw from its demands. “That’s a threat,” said Yelle SAL’s executive director Anne Laurila.
Despite the demands of shooting sports federations in Finland and many other countries, there was no vote of confidence in the ESC board and Ratner when the ESC met in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the fall. So Finland did not get the vote of confidence it had put on the agenda of the meeting.
A day before the general meeting, Ratner had sent a letter to the member unions, in which he stated that “it is obvious that the accusations against me and the entire government lack merit and substance”.
Furthermore, Ratner stated that “in response to the attacks directed at me personally, I have begun and will continue to take the necessary steps to defend my honor and reputation.”
This is how Finland is commenting now
Anne Laurila, executive director of the shooting sports association, was already surprised after the events of last autumn that during the process it has become clear that it is not possible to criticize the current management of the ESC.
– In a normal democracy, management must be able to be criticized and trust questioned. The grievance is still that the institution refused to add its own vote of confidence to the agenda of the general assembly, Laurila says now in the press release.
According to Laurila, it is also special that Ratner previously disapproved of the money flowing out of sports due to legal actions in connection with the CAS proceedings (International Court of Appeal for Sports). Even so, he is now starting an expensive legal process with translation costs – because, according to SAL, he has upset his mind because of the facts that were presented as reasons for demanding a vote of confidence.
However, according to Laurila, the likely reason is something else, such as preventing the convening of an extra ESC meeting.
Italian Luciano Rossi was elected president of the ISSF a year and a half ago. He defeated the Russian Vladimir Lisin in the vote. During Lisin’s tenure, Ratner also served as ISSF’s general secretary.
In his subpoena application, Ratner refers, among other things, to the fact that he allegedly made it difficult to transfer the ISSF’s day-to-day operations to the new chairman. Ratner also does not consider that he violated his loyalty to the ISSF when he “presented the presidential candidates” on the ESC website in November 2022.
Ratner writes about Lisin, which he supports, in the following way, according to the Finnish Shooting Sports Association:
“What is most important for the future of our association: under Lisin’s leadership, the Olympic future of shooting sports is guaranteed for many years to come. A reliable relationship has been established with the IOC. ISSF is open to all member federations. Not a single message, not a single request goes unanswered.”
On the other hand, according to SAL, Ratner criticizes Italian Rossi in harsh words:
“Rossi recklessly puts his personal goals above the core values of the international shooting sports family, which are enshrined in the ISSF Rules and the Olympic Charter. – – The upcoming elections are Luciano Rossi’s last chance to remind himself. After 2024, he will even cease to be FITAV (Italian Federation) president. In the end, he leaves the stage for good.”