insidethegames has obtained a letter from the Nordic Fencing Union (NFU) calling on the FIE Executive Committee to perform a U-turn due to fears that its decision will be "detrimental to the long-term development" of the sport in Europe.

FIE Acting President Emanuel Katsiadakis informed the European Fencing Confederation (EFC) last week that only the team competition at Kraków-Małopolska 2023 will be valid for Olympic qualification points.

It was determined by the EFC that there was a "clear discrimination of European fencers that would come from not being able to collect points".

The ruling from fencing authorities comes after Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from participating at the European Games in Poland, which neighbours Ukraine.

A decision has now been taken by the EFC and FIE to organise an Individual European Championships which will instead act as a qualifier for next year’s Olympics in Paris.

Plovdiv in Bulgaria has been named as host of the event, scheduled to take place from June 16 to 18 and which is expected to feature fencers from Russia and Belarus.

But the NFU has made a last-ditch appeal to the FIE to reinstate the European Games, due to be held from June 21 to July 2, as a qualifier for Paris 2024.

The NFU is made up of National Federations from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

"The European Games 2023 with European Championship status would be a great leap forward for European national fencing federations," the Nordic Fencing Union wrote.

"We would be able to fully join the European Olympic Movement and have an arrangement that provided fantastic conditions for participants and an impressive Olympic qualification event that would substantially increase the interest in our sport.

"The decision of the FIE is detrimental to the long-term development of fencing in Europe and to the efforts of the athletes and coaches who have prepared for a long time the realisation of their Olympic dream in Paris 2024.

"We urge the FIE to change its decision and accept the individual competition at the European Games also as the individual competition of the European Championships 2023 and included in the Olympic qualification for fencing.

"We also urge all national fencing federations of Europe to make their voice heard and appeal this decision to drastically change the terms of the Olympic qualification for European fencers.

"We also strongly recommend them to inform their National Olympic committees of the situation and demand that complaints are made to the International Olympic Committee."

The FIE's decision to allow the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral banner at its events has proved highly divisive, resulting in several events in Europe being cancelled.

Organisers of World Cup competitions in Bonn and Tauberbischofsheim in Germany, Poznań in Poland and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in France all decided to pull the plug in response to the readmission of fencers from Russia and Belarus.

The NFU has claimed that fencing has entered a "chaotic situation which will cause permanent damage to our sport".

"Important competitions for the Olympic qualification have been moved at short notice, causing unfair conditions for the athletes and damaging the brand of fencing in important countries," the NFU added.

"It has also become clear that the decision to allow AIN [individual neutral athletes] will make it impossible for Ukrainian athletes to participate in international fencing and qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

"Even with all these measures, the best Russian or Belorussian fencers will not be allowed to compete since they do not meet the criteria raising the question of their effectiveness."

A group of 39 athletes from Russia and Belarus had registered for this year’s World Championships but only 11 have been permitted by the Italian Government to compete as neutrals at the event, due to be staged from July 22 to 30 in Milan.

Among the Russians blocked from the World Championships is Sofia Pozdniakova, winner of the Olympic individual and team gold medals at Tokyo 2020.

She is the daughter of Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov, himself a four-time Olympic champion and former head of the EFC before being deposed following his conduct in light of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

insidethegames has contacted the FIE for comment.