Marius Vizer re-elected as IJF President for four years

Marius Vizer was officially re-elected President of the International Judo Federation (IJF) for a new four-year term here today. He was the only candidate and was re-elected by acclamation at the IJF Ordinary Congress taking place on the eve of the Suzuki 2017 World Judo Championships in Budapest.

"It is a great honour for me to serve judo together with our team for the next four years and to promote judo's values to the world," Vizer told delegates following his re-election.

The Romanian had first been elected as President of the IJF in 2007 when he replaced South Korea's Yong Sung Park. The Congress also backed Vizer's proposed list for the IJF Executive Committee.

In Vizer's presentation before the election, he revealed that the IJF had  donated $459,000 (€389,000) in 2008 to develop judo in the world but last year that figure reached $2.4 million (€2.1 million). At the same time, the IJF offered just $75,000 (€63,000) in prize money for its top events but that rose in 2016 to $1.4 million (€1.2 million) as part of a growing World Judo Tour.

Under Vizer, the IJF have also introduced a series of rule changes to make the sport more appealing to a wider audience.

Since his last election as President at the IJF Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Vizer had a brief but controversial reign as head of SportAccord, the umbrella group for Olympic and non-Olympic sports now re-named the Global Association Of International Sport Federations.

Vizer resigned as President of SportAccord in 2015 after a controversial speech during which he criticised International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach. Vizer and Bach have since repaired their relationship and the head of the IOC is due to come here for the closing stages of the World Championships.

Among the new initiatives that Vizer announced today was a new collaboration with American broadcaster CNN who will air a monthly feature on judo.