Fédération internationale d’escrime

The sport of Fencing is governed worldwide by the Fédération internationale d’escrime (FIE), which was formed on 29 November 1913, in Paris, France, with eight founding members: Belgium, Bohemia, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Norway. Also well known by its English name, International Fencing Federation, the FIE has 156 affiliated member federations as of January 2026. The organization has its office based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and former Olympic fencer Abdel Monem El-Husseini has been its interim president since late April 2025.

Fencing was first contested at the 1896 Olympics, and is one of the few sports to have been contested at every modern Summer Olympic Games. Women’s fencing would first appear at the Olympics at Paris 1924.

The FIE organized the first “Fencing World Championships” called the “Championnats d’Europe” (“European Championships”) in Paris, France, in 1921, with only a men’s individual épée event held that year. In spite of their name, non-Europeans were allowed to compete in them, and so these competitions are considered to be the first world championships for fencing. A “European Championship” in women’s foil individual was held for the first time in Naples, Italy, in 1929. It was not until 1937 that the FIE officially changed the name of the competitions from “Championnats d’Europe” to “Championnats du Monde”.

Originally, these championships were held yearly, except in the Olympic years. However, from 1932 to 1956, these championships were held in the Olympic years with just a women’s foil team event because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to include a women’s team event in the Olympics. The FIE continued to hold a World Championship with just a women’s team event in the Olympic years until this event was added to the Olympic programme in 1960.

Fencing has also been a part of the Summer Youth Olympics since its inception, at Singapore 2010.