Judo President Re-Elected for the next 4 years ,again .

(ATR) There were no challengers to International Judo Federation President Marius Vizer in the federation’s latest presidential election.

Vizer speaking at the 2017 Judo Congress (IJF)

Vizer was re-elected by acclamation today at the IJF Congress in Budapest, Hungary. The congress took place ahead of the 2017 World Judo Championships, which will be held from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.

“Thank you very much to everyone, it is a great honor for me to serve judo together with our team for the next four years and to promote judo’s values to the world,” Vizer said in a statement following his re-election. ““I hope I can offer to you support and together we can develop judo for the next generation.”

Joining Vizer are four appointments to the IJF executive committee. Rovnag Abdullayev, Lisa Allan, Oscar Cassinerio, and Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko were appointed by Vizer to the committee.

According to local reports, Vizer shared in a presentation before the election that the federation had more than $30 million in cash reserves after the Rio Olympics.

As part of the large reserves a number of new sponsors have joined the IJF. Suzuki has become the flagship partner for the World Championships, and a new media deal with news outlet CNN International is in place. 

CNN will cover the 2017 World Championships in full and will host a “micro-site” dedicated to judo. Starting next month CNN will produce a 30-minute show called “Judo World” to “cover the sport’s major events with unprecedented coverage,” according to a release.

“With front seats at the biggest events on the Judo calendar across all platforms, our audiences will be able to follow the very best of the action and meet the world’s champion judoka, starting at the 2017 World Judo Championships in Budapest,” Matthew Percival, executive producer and commissioning editor, CNN International, said in a statement.

Judo Opening Ceremony Guest
Russian President Vladmir Putin will attend the opening of the 2017 World Judo Championships.

Putin, a skilled judoka, has attended the event in the past, and was given an open invitation by Vizer to come to Budapest.

"We expect the Russian president to participate in the event’s opening ceremony on August 28," Vizer was quoted by Russian news agency Tass.

Tass also reported that Putin is expected to meet with Hungarian President Viktor Orban during the trip.