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FIE Extends Russian Box of Death “Test”

fie russian box of death test extendedReporting from the FIE Congress in Moscow:

“The FIE has appointed a group of sabre experts (from a range of countries) to observe the testing of the new sabre en garde line and obtain feedback from athletes, coaches and referees at these events. This group will prepare a report which will be considered by the FIE Executive Committee at its meeting in February 2017. The current test period will be extended until that date.”

This update begs several questions:

Here’s the Reddit thread for additional commentary.

This change is being painted by critcs as a way for the fencing world to get used to the changes and then just make them permanent no matter what the “testing” shows. (Just like the foil lockout timing was changed without true scientific testing because the then FIE president mandated it.)

The change is called the “Russian Box of Death” because it is being pushed by Russia. Critics point out that since Usmanov has been re-elected as FIE president, expect changes the Russian contingent wants to push forward to go through.

Sabre fencers need to plan on the RBOD being around for the long term, so get used to adapting to this new en-garde line setup.

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