LAUSANNE, Switz., August 21, 2025 – The FIE is saddened to learn of the recent passing of Veselko Dumitrov (SRB), an elite fencing coach who contributed significantly to international fencing and the global fencing community. He served as a member of the European Fencing Confederation Executive Committee from 2018 to 2021.
Dumitrov worked as a head coach for multiple national teams in FIE competitions throughout the world, including coaching multiple generations of athletes from Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Nepal. Most recently, in the past six months he worked as a coach with young fencers in Ahmedabad, India.
“He was also an innovator – a coach whose ideas were often ahead of their time, always searching for new ways to advance the sport he loved”, said Vukašin Stošić, Serbian Fencing Federation Secretary-General. “His vision and energy left an indelible mark on world fencing. ‘Duma’ will be remembered not only as an outstanding coach, but also as a man with a special charm, humor and openness that won people over as easily as his knowledge did.”
He also served as technical director and as part of the technical staff for numerous FIE international events and European competitions.
Veselko Dumitrov was born in 1971 in Zrenjanin, Serbia, a city where fencing dates to 1890 and was for many years a center of fencing for the country. As a competitive fencer for the Omladinac Fencing Club there, he won the national championship title for Yugoslavia several times and was a member of the national team. It was there that he also began his long and notable epee coaching career.
He authored the first – and, so far, only – modern fencing coaching handbooks in the Serbian language.
“Wherever he went, he built bridges”, stated Tesch. “He carried with him not only knowledge, but also the passion and human warmth that inspired athletes and colleagues alike.”
The FIE extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Veselko Dumitrov, the Serbian Fencing Federation and the European Fencing Confederation, and expresses its deepest sympathy to them at this difficult time.