The 68th ISSF General Assembly will kick-off tomorrow, 30 November 2018, at the Hilton Park Hotel in Munich, Germany.
A new leadership will emerge from the meetings, as delegates from all over the world are called to elect the 7th ISSF President since 1907, as well as the new Secretary General, four Vice-Presidents, and a new Administrative Council.
As per today, 139 out of 160 ISSF member federations from 131 countries have registered to participate in the General Assembly, with some 224 delegates expected to take part in the meetings.
After 38 years at the steering wheel of the ISSF, President Olegario Vázquez Raña - the longest standing president in the history of the federation - will retire on 30 November, as he does not run for re-election, following a decision he had made public in 2014.
Vàzquez Raña was elected for the first time in the ISSF (UIT, at that time) Council in 1978, and became the ISSF President two years later, at the General Assembly held in Mexico City, in 1980.
The 83-year old Mexican entrepreneur has been a successful shooter who competed in four Olympic Games (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976) and five World Shooting Championships (1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1979), setting several national, continental and world records. He served as an IOC Member from 1995 to 2015, before becoming an IOC Honorary Member in 2016.
“Every stage of my life has been made up of cycles and it is time to finish mine as President of the ISSF,” Vázquez Raña said ahead of the meetings. “I leave with my head held high because I fulfilled all the goals I set for our Sport.”
President Vázquez Raña is expected to address the General Assembly, tomorrow, with a farewell message.
Three candidates are running for the position of ISSF President; in alphabetical order: the President of the Lebanon Shooting Federation Jalkh Boutros (LBN), ISSF Vice-President and President of the European Shooting Confederation Vladimir Lisin (RUS), and ISSF Vice-President Luciano Rossi (ITA).
Update: the President of the Lebanon Shooting Federation Jalkh Boutros (LBN) withdrew his candidature with a formal letter to the ISSF Secretary General, today, 29 November 2018.
The current ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber (who has been in the job since 2010) and two-time Olympic Champion Gary Anderson (who has served as ISSF Vice-President since 1990) are also not seeking re-election.
Five candidates are running for the ISSF Secretary General position, while 15 candidates are listed for the four ISSF Vice-President seats.
The General Assembly will open tomorrow morning at 09.00. On the agenda of the delegates there are also the approval of the financial statements, a proposal for amendments to the ISSF Constitution, the election of the Chairman of the ISSF Technical Committee, of the Chairmen of the Sections Committees (Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Running Target, Judges, Statutes and Eligibility, Medical), of the ISSF Auditors, and of the ISSF Honorary Members.
On Day-2 (1st of December), the General Assembly is called to vote on the country to organize the 2019 ISSF Shotgun World Championship, and to take several other regulatory and administrative decisions.