The European Shooting Confederation (ESC) is an association of the International Shooting Sport Federation's member federations from Europe, the Caucasus, Cyprus, Israel, and Turkey.

History

The organisation of European Shooting Championships was first decided in 1952 at the Congress of the International Shooting Union. Successful Championships and regional competitions were organised by the Committee for European Affairs within the International Union. The Confederation was founded as a distinct entity in 1969. Between 2009 and 2021, Vladimir Lisin served as President. Alexander Ratner was elected President in 2021, taking over from Vladimir Lisin, who had been elected President of the International Shooting Sport Federation in 2018. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the ESC and ISSF had banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from their competitions. In addition, the ESC stripped Russia of its right to host the 2022 European Shooting Championships in the 25m, 50m, 300m, running target and shotgun. In March, both ESC President Alexander Ratner and ISSF President Vladimir Lisin were barred from attending the European 10metre Shooting Championships in any official capacity, amid calls for them to step aside. Ratner attended privately, insisting that neither he nor Lisin had links with the Russian government. In July 2023, the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation (SAL) called for a secret ballot on the ESC Presidency to be added to the agenda of the 2023 ESC General Assembly in October. In particular they complained that Ratner had used ESC platforms to support Vladimir Lisin in the ISSF elections, as well as breaching the neutrality required as salaried staff at the ISSF (Ratner was ISSF Secretary-General at the time). In response, Mr Ratner threatened legal action. SAL appealed the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which found itself unable to impose provisional measures. No ballot was held at the General Assembly.

European Championships

Competitions administered by the ESC