After massive criticism
Eklat at the award ceremony: Athletes apologize
04/29/2025 – 07:11 a.m.Reading time: 1 min.
The award ceremony at the U23 European Championship in the fencing ended in a scandal. The responsible athletes now showed remorse.
At the U23 European Championship of the Fencers in Tallinn, a scene occurred during the award ceremony that caused a sensation: Four Swiss fencers have now apologized to the public.
After winning the silver medal in the team competition behind Israel, Ian Hauri, Théo Brochard, Jonathan Fuhrimann and Sven Vineis did not turn to the Israeli flag at the award ceremony. This behavior met with significant criticism in Israel and Switzerland (you can read more about this here).
The Swiss fencers jointly explained through Instagram: “We want to explain our actions and express our regret”. The athletes emphasized that their behavior at the award ceremony had “no political background and nothing to disregard Israel”. Rather, it was their intention to “express our grief and our empathy with a view to the great human suffering of the civilian population, which in this conflict affects all sides”.
The four athletes admitted that their behavior had “caused irritation”. It was a mistake. In their statement they asked “all of them to apologize, the feelings of which we hurt – especially our final opponents from the Israeli fecht team and the Israeli fencing association”. The quartet emphasized that they wanted to learn from the situation.
It is still unclear whether the Swiss will face further consequences. According to the Swiss news agency Keystone-Sda, the European Association expressed a warning.