Kazan gears up for World Fencing Championships

Officials of the Russian Fencing Federation arrived for an inspection visit to Kazan to scrutinise the future host city's progress in the run-up to the event. During their trip they took a tour of the Tennis Academy and highly commended the quality of the competition venue, which will see some of the world's top athletes gather to compete for spots on the podium. First Vice-President of the Russian Fencing Federation Stanislav Pozdnyakov said: "The Tennis Academy is a very convenient venue in terms of accommodating different services and departments that will work at the championships. The hall is large enough to host the preliminary competition, while the final hall will be able to accommodate nine basic pistes. An easy navigation between rooms will allow athletes to walk into the arena from the premises under the stands. It is obvious that the building is state-of-the-art and is designed for the needs of athletes rather than as an exhibition centre."

During their inspection visit, representatives of the Russian Fencing Federation also addressed such important aspects of the preparation and delivery of the future world championships as venue zoning, temporary facilities, IT, broadcasting and press operations, provision of services to all client groups, etc. The cultural programme and opening ceremony were also discussed during the meetings.

A piste will be installed in the Tennis Academy to host the fencing tournament. "A great deal of attention has been paid today to the installation of the piste, especially in terms of the positioning of television cameras, Technical Directorate. Most matters were related to the construction of pistes on which fencers compete," said Stanislav Pozdnyakov.

Following the visit, a meeting featuring Tatarstan's Deputy Minister of Sports, Khalil Shaikhutdinov, and Director General of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, Azat Kadyrov, was held in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism of Tatarstan.

This is FIE's second scheduled visit to the sports capital of Russia. The first was held in late December. It became clear that all the issues that had emerged during the first visit, were successfully resolved. The next visit of the Russian Fencing Federation will be held in the second half of April. Experts of foreign services and supply contractors involved in the delivery of the world championships are expected to participate in it.