ESC President wins one more court case

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Following the ESC General Assembly on 25 October 2025 in Yerevan, where Mr Alexander Ratner was re-elected ESC President, the losing candidate Ms Karoliina Nissinen launched a public campaign alleging electoral manipulation, financial influence, lack of transparency, intimidation, discrimination and governance breaches.

To protect his personal and professional reputation as well as the interests of the Member Federations, Mr Ratner was forced to take legal action. On 29 December 2025, the Frankfurt Regional Court had issued an initial injunction prohibiting Ms Nissinen to make false claims regarding the ESC Presidential election and the General Assembly.

Following her appeal, the Court, composed of three judges, held a public hearing on 6 August 2026 and delivered its final decision, completely confirming the previous injunction.

The Frankfurt am Main Regional Court acknowledged the connection of this case with the previous one already won by Mr Ratner in November of 2024 against the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation (FSSF) represented by its President Mr Vesa Nissinen, FITAV and Mr Luciano Rossi, President of the ISSF.   

The judgement may be summarized as follows:

Legitimacy of the Election: The Court confirmed that there was no evidence that the election was not fair or not democratic. After losing the vote, Ms Nissinen had made unlawful public statements attempting to challenge the results without any factual basis.

Lack of Factual Basis: The Court emphasized that allegations of "vote-buying“, pressure, and systemic manipulation were baseless. Ms Nissinen failed to provide any evidence of such violations.

Misuse of Free Expression: While upholding the principle of free speech, the Court stressed that using the media by a defeated candidate to spread unproven and damaging claims exceeds permissible criticism and misuses democratic principles.

Status of the ISSF Inquiry: The Court explicitly noted that the internal ISSF committee report, initiated following Ms Nissinen’s complaint, does not reveal any facts which, on the basis of civil law standards, could call into question Mr Ratner’s claim for an injunction in order to restore his personality rights.

Legal Costs: Ms Nissinen is ordered to pay all legal costs of the court proceedings.

Penalties for Violations: Any repeated breach of this order will result in a statutory fine of up to €250,000 (or administrative detention if the fine is not paid).

The ruling takes immediate effect. The full text of the decision is available here.

The European Shooting Confederation welcomes the Court’s clear decision, which safeguards the integrity of the European shooting sport community. The ESC remains committed to transparent governance, open dialogue through proper institutional channels, and serving the best interests of its Member Federations, athletes, and partners across Europe.

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