Marius Vizer (born 7 November 1958) is a Romanian former
judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
ka and judo coach, and businessman. Since 2007, he has been the president of the
International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...
. Vizer also holds an Austrian passport.
Judo
Between 1995 and 2001, he was President of the Romanian Judo Federation. Between 2000 and 2007, Vizer was President of the
European Judo Union
The EJU consists of 51 national Judo federations/associations, and is itself recognised by the IJF as one of five continental unions. The organisation of the administration of Judo is based on a pyramid system of regulations, with the IJF the wo ...
. And between 2013 and 2015, he was President of the
SportAccord
Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...
.
Since 2007, he has been the president of the
International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...
.
After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, all 31 of the other international Olympic sports organizations banned Russian athletes.
Vizer, a long-time close friend of Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, wanted instead to let Russians and Belarusians continue to compete as neutral athletes.
Finally, both national federations withdrew of their own accord,
until June 2022 when they again competed. Ukraine boycotted IJF events beginning in June 2022 because the Russian team was allowed to compete in and entered competitions. Judo is one of the few
Olympic sports
Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an Sports governing body, inter ...
which goes against the recommendation of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
.
Business
He settled in Austria as a judo coach. In the 1990s, Vizer started importing vegetables and fruits from Romania to Austria, especially apples, while he exported banana and orange wagons to Romania. He then organized Telebingo in Romania, in collaboration with TVR, until the National Lottery closed it.
He was the owner of the football clubs
FC Bihor,
Olimpia Salonta
Clubul Sportiv Municipal Olimpia Salonta, commonly known as Olimpia Salonta, is a Romanian professional football club based in Salonta, Romania, founded in 1911. Currently the team plays in Liga V.
History
CSM Olimpia Salonta was founded in 191 ...
and
FC Sopron
FC Sopron was a Hungarian football club from the town of Sopron, near the Austrian border. It was founded in 1921 as ''Soproni Postás''. The club's home stadium is Stadion Városi with a capacity of 5,300.
With the beginning of the season 2007 ...
.
Personal life
In 2015, Vizer married former Romanian singer
Irina Nicolae after years of dating. They live in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. On 2 February 2018, his wife gave birth to the couple's child, Scarlett-Maria.
He holds a 7th dan black belt in judo. He has a long friendship with Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
for more than 25 years.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vizer, Marius
1958 births
Living people
People from Bihor County
Romanian male judoka
Judoka trainers
Romanian sports executives and administrators
Romanian expatriates in Hungary
Austrian expatriates in Hungary
Naturalised citizens of Austria
Austrian people of Romanian descent