Shooting's ongoing court proceedings

Long-standing legal disputes within the Olympic discipline seem set to continue, with multiple international cases involving high-ranking senior officials pending before German tribunals, as well as the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In October 2023, the President of the European Shooting Confederation, Alexander Ratner, filed a lawsuit against counterpart Luciano Rossi, of the International Shooting Sport Federation and of the Italian federation FITAV, together with the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation and its President, Vesa Nissinen. Ratner accused them of circulating false information that damaged his reputation.

On 22 November 2024, the Court of Frankfurt am Main ruled in Ratner's favour, ordering Rossi, FITAV and the FSSF to publicly acknowledge that their statements were defamatory.

Further litigation is now under way and, on 1 October 2025, the Labour Court of Munich is expected to hear a case brought by former ISSF Secretary General Wilhelm Grill, who is contesting his dismissal after supporting Rossi's successful presidential bid in November 2022. Grill was replaced after one year in office by the Italian official Alessandro Nicotra di San Giacomo.

At the end of July 2025, CAS registered Grill’s appeal against an ISSF Ethics Commission decision that banned him from all shooting sport-related activity.

This is not the first time Rossi has faced legal scrutiny. In 2018, a CAS panel composed of Murray Rosen QC (United Kingdom), Luigi Fumagalli (Italy) and Michele A. R. Bernasconi (Switzerland) found that he had seriously breached obligations under the ISSF Code of Ethics in a conflict-of-interest case.

Given the pace of legal action in recent years, further proceedings involving shooting sport officials are expected in the months ahead.

This article is published on the InsideTheGames portal as well.

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