Possible new member federations of the FIE

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


A stated FIE goal is to spread fencing further around the globe, so I decided to check out which countries could concievably maintain a viable fencing federation (FF), but presently do not.

Fencing tends to survive better in non-poor countries. I got the following list of GDP/person for most countries from Wikipedia, and I took away countries which I know already have a FF.

Rank Country GDP(dollars) per capita
32 The Bahamas 18,062
40 Oman 12,664
41 Trinidad and Tobago 12,625
44 Saint Kitts and Nevis 10,895
46 Antigua and Barbuda 10,727
50 Seychelles 8,556
56 Libya 6,696
57 Botswana 6,439
58 Gabon 6,397
59 Equatorial Guinea 6,205
66 Mauritius 5,029
68 Saint Lucia 4,963
71 Grenada 4,670

Places 72-downwards have not been extensive checked by me, I have only taken away obvious howlers. It is 01:55 here, so please forgive me for any mistakes.

72 Costa Rica 4,620
73 Romania 4,539
75 Belize 4,146
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3,950
77 Dominica 3,947
78 Kazakhstan 3,717
79 Jamaica 3,657
80 Bulgaria 3,459
81 Dominican Republic 3,411
82 Turkmenistan 3,406
83 Fiji 3,349
84 Algeria 3,086
85 Belarus 3,031
86 Namibia 3,022
87 Serbia 2,880
88 Peru 2,841
89 Tunisia 2,829
90 Republic of Macedonia 2,810
91 Iran 2,767
92 Ecuador 2,761
93 Albania 2,673
95 Colombia 2,656
96 Suriname 2,637
97 El Salvador 2,468
98 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,384
99 Maldives 2,350
100 Swaziland 2,336
101 Jordan 2,317
102 Angola 2,129
103 Tonga 2,106
104 Cape Verde 2,066
105 Guatemala 1,995
106 Samoa 1,832
107 Republic of the Congo 1,785
109 Morocco 1,713
111 Iraq 1,700
112 Vanuatu 1,530
113 Azerbaijan 1,493
114 Georgia 1,480
115 Syrian Arab Republic 1,464
116 Paraguay 1,288
117 Indonesia 1,283
118 Egypt 1,265
119 Sri Lanka 1,200
120 Philippines 1,168
121 Honduras 1,148
122 Armenia 1,140
123 Bhutan 1,126
124 Guyana 1,039
125 Bolivia 993
126 Djibouti 973
127 Cameroon 952
128 Côte d'Ivoire 900
129 Moldova 861
130 Nicaragua 850
131 Sudan 820
132 Senegal 738
133 Mongolia 736
134 Pakistan 728
135 India 705
136 Nigeria 678
137 Kiribati 672
138 Mauritania 663
139 Papua New Guinea 662
140 Chad 654
141 Zambia 627
142 Lesotho 621
143 Vietnam 618
144 Comoros 615
145 Solomon Islands 611
146 Benin 592
147 Yemen 586
148 Kenya 560
149 Ghana 512
150 Laos 485
151 Haiti 478
152 Kyrgyz Republic 473
153 Uzbekistan 444
154 Mali 432
155 Burkina Faso 430
156 Cambodia 430
157 São Tomé and Príncipe 430
158 Bangladesh 400
159 Zimbabwe 383
160 Togo 377
161 Tajikistan 364
162 Guinea 355
163 Timor-Leste 352
164 Tanzania 336
165 Central African Republic 335
166 Mozambique 331
167 Nepal 322
168 The Gambia 306
169 Uganda 303
170 Afghanistan 300
171 Madagascar 282
172 Niger 274
173 Rwanda 242
174 Sierra Leone 223
175 Myanmar 219
176 Eritrea 209
177 Guinea-Bissau 190
178 Liberia 161
179 Malawi 161
180 Ethiopia 153
181 Democratic Republic of the Congo 119
182 Burundi 107


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


Too long post, had to split it in 3:

The total GDP list is:
Rank Country GDP (millions of USD)
45 Pakistan 110,970
56 Bangladesh 60,806
61 Libya 38,738

Places 64-downwards have not been checked by me at all. Please help out
64 Ecuador 36,489
66 Slovenia 34,030
67 Angola 32,810 1
68 Oman 30,734 1
69 Belarus 29,566
70 Dominican Republic 29,089 1
71 Tunisia 28,674 1
72 Sudan 27,542 1
73 Guatemala 27,366
74 Syrian Arab Republic 27,297 1
75 Bulgaria 26,719
76 Lithuania 25,504
77 Serbia 24,058 1
78 Sri Lanka 23,534
79 Lebanon 22,053 1
80 Costa Rica 19,985
81 Kenya 18,730 1
82 Turkmenistan 17,114 1
83 Cameroon 16,991 1
84 El Salvador 16,974
85 Uruguay 16,878
86 Cyprus 16,695
87 Côte d'Ivoire 16,373
88 Trinidad and Tobago 16,252 1
89 Latvia 15,826 1
90 Iceland 15,823
91 Panama 15,467 1
92 Yemen 15,193
93 Bahrain 13,515 1
94 Estonia 13,108
95 Jordan 12,712
96 Tanzania 12,607
97 Azerbaijan 12,561
98 Myanmar 12,151 1
99 Uzbekistan 11,652
100 Ethiopia 11,174 1
101 Ghana 10,6941
102 Botswana 10,196 1
103 Jamaica 9,731
104 Brunei Darussalam 9,531
105 Bolivia 9,358
106 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9,343
107 Uganda 8,729
108 Gabon 8,724 1
109 Senegal 8,609 1
110 Albania 8,379 1
111 Honduras 8,294
112 Nepal 7,515
113 Paraguay 7,468
114 Afghanistan 7,309 1
115 Zambia 7,269 1
116 Democratic Republic of Congo 7,094
117 Equatorial Guinea 7,062 1
118 Mozambique 6,491 1
119 Georgia 6,395
120 Mauritius 6,231
121 Cambodia 6,219 1
122 Namibia 6,121 1
123 Republic of Congo 5,980
124 Chad 5,907 1
125 Bahamas, The 5,870 1
126 Republic of Macedonia 5,722
127 Burkina Faso 5,635 1
128 Malta 5,454
129 Mali 5,390
130 Madagascar 5,033
131 Nicaragua 4,910 1
132 Zimbabwe 4,491 1
133 Benin 4,406 1
134 Haiti 3,983 1
135 Papua New Guinea 3,931 1
136 Armenia 3,782
137 Niger 3,439 1
138 Guinea 3,293 1
139 Netherlands Antilles 3,204 1
140 Barbados 3,058 1
141 Moldova 2,917
142 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2,875 1
143 Fiji 2,861 1
144 Swaziland 2,546 1
145 Kyrgyz Republic 2,441
146 Tajikistan 2,311
147 Rwanda 2,137 1
148 Togo 2,107
149 Malawi 2,076
150 Mongolia 1,881 1
151 Mauritania 1,871
152 Lesotho 1,467 1
153 Central African Republic 1,377 1
154 Suriname 1,345 1
155 Sierra Leone 1,213 1
156 Belize 1,111 1
157 Cape Verde 983 1
158 Eritrea 970 1
159 Antigua and Barbuda 873
160 Bhutan 864 1
161 St. Lucia 818
162 Burundi 799 1
163 Maldives 787
164 Guyana 786 1
165 Djibouti 709 1
166 Seychelles 695 1
167 Liberia 530
168 Grenada 490 1
169 The Gambia 461 1
170 St. Kitts and Nevis 453 1
171 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 421 1
172 Comoros 369
173 Samoa 336
174 Vanuatu 332 1
175 Timor-Leste 331 1
176 Guinea-Bissau 302 1
177 Solomon Islands 294
178 Dominica 283 1
179 Tonga 215
180 São Tomé and Príncipe 70 1
181 Kiribati 63 1


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Here comes part 3:
The corresponding population list is:
Rank Country / Territory Population July 2005
6 Pakistan 157,935,000
8 Bangladesh 141,822,000
15 Ethiopia 77,431,000
24 Myanmar 50,519,000
32 Tanzania 38,329,000
33 Sudan 36,233,000
34 Kenya 34,256,000
39 Uganda 28,816,000
42 Nepal 27,133,000
Places 72-downwards have not been checked by me at all. Please help out.

49 Ghana Ghana 22,113,000
51 Yemen Yemen 20,975,000
52 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 20,743,000
54 Mozambique Mozambique 19,792,000
55 Syria Syria 19,043,000
56 Madagascar Madagascar 18,606,000[6]
57 Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire 18,154,000
58 Cameroon Cameroon 16,322,000
61 Angola Angola 15,941,000
62 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 14,825,000
63 Cambodia Cambodia 14,071,000
64 Niger Niger 13,957,000
65 Mali Mali 13,518,000
66 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso 13,228,000
67 Ecuador Ecuador 13,228,000
68 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 13,010,000
69 Malawi Malawi 12,884,000
70 Guatemala Guatemala 12,599,000
71 Zambia Zambia 11,668,000
72 Senegal Senegal 11,658,000
73 Cuba Cuba 11,269,000
74 Greece Greece 11,120,000
75 Portugal Portugal 10,495,000
76 Belgium Belgium 10,419,000
77 Czech Republic Czech Republic 10,220,000
78 Tunisia Tunisia 10,102,000
79 Hungary Hungary 10,098,000
80 Serbia Serbia 9,778,991[7]
81 Belarus Belarus 9,755,000
82 Chad Chad 9,749,000
83 Guinea Guinea 9,402,000
84 Bolivia Bolivia 9,182,000
85 Sweden Sweden 9,041,000
86 Rwanda Rwanda 9,038,000
87 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 8,895,000
88 Haiti Haiti 8,528,000
89 Benin Benin 8,439,000
90 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 8,411,000
91 Somalia Somalia 8,228,000
92 Austria Austria 8,189,000
93 Bulgaria Bulgaria 7,726,000
94 Burundi Burundi 7,548,000
95 Switzerland Switzerland 7,252,000
96 Honduras Honduras 7,205,000
97 Hong Kong Hong Kong (PR China) 7,041,000
98 El Salvador El Salvador 6,881,000
99 Israel Israel 6,725,000
100 Tajikistan Tajikistan 6,507,000
101 Paraguay Paraguay 6,158,000
102 Togo Togo 6,145,000
103 Laos Laos 5,924,000
104 Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 5,887,000
105 Libya Libya 5,853,000
106 Jordan Jordan 5,703,000
107 Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 5,525,000
108 Nicaragua Nicaragua 5,487,000
109 Denmark Denmark 5,431,000
110 Slovakia Slovakia 5,401,000
111 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 5,264,000
112 Finland Finland 5,249,000[8]
113 Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 4,833,000
114 Norway Norway 4,620,000[9]
115 Croatia Croatia 4,551,000
116 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 4,496,000
117 Georgia (country) Georgia 4,474,000
118 Eritrea Eritrea 4,401,000
119 Costa Rica Costa Rica 4,327,000
120 Singapore Singapore 4,326,000
121 Moldova Moldova 4,206,000
122 Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 4,148,000
123 Central African Republic Central African Republic 4,038,000
124 New Zealand New Zealand 4,028,000
125 Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo 3,999,000
126 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (US) 3,955,000
127 Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,907,000
128 Palestinian territories Palestinian territories 3,702,000
129 Lebanon Lebanon 3,577,000
130 Uruguay Uruguay 3,463,000
131 Lithuania Lithuania 3,431,000
132 Liberia Liberia 3,283,000
133 Panama Panama 3,232,000
134 Albania Albania 3,130,000
135 Mauritania Mauritania 3,069,000
136 Armenia Armenia 3,016,000
137 Kuwait Kuwait 2,687,000
138 Jamaica Jamaica 2,651,000
139 Mongolia Mongolia 2,646,000
140 Oman Oman 2,567,000
141 Latvia Latvia 2,307,000
142 Bhutan Bhutan 2,163,000[10]
143 Republic of Macedonia Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2,034,000
144 Namibia Namibia 2,031,000
145 Slovenia Slovenia 1,967,000
146 Lesotho 1987-2006 Lesotho 1,795,000
147 Botswana Botswana 1,765,000
148 Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau 1,586,000
149 The Gambia The Gambia 1,517,000
150 Gabon Gabon 1,384,000
151 Estonia Estonia 1,330,000
152 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 1,305,000
153 Mauritius Mauritius 1,245,000[11]
154 Swaziland Swaziland 1,032,000
155 East Timor East Timor 947,000
156 Fiji Fiji 848,000
157 Cyprus Cyprus 835,000[12]
158 Qatar Qatar 813,000
159 Comoros Comoros 798,000[13]
160 Djibouti Djibouti 793,000
161 Réunion Réunion (France) 785,000
162 Guyana Guyana 751,000
163 Bahrain Bahrain 727,000
164 Montenegro Montenegro 620,145[14]
165 Cape Verde Cape Verde 507,000
166 Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea 504,000
167 Solomon Islands Solomon Islands 478,000
168 Luxembourg Luxembourg 465,000
169 Macau Macau (PR China) 460,000
170 Suriname Suriname 449,000
171 Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (France) 448,000
172 Malta Malta 402,000
173 Martinique Martinique (France) 396,000
174 Brunei Brunei 374,000
175 Western Sahara Western Sahara 341,000
176 Maldives Maldives 329,000
177 The Bahamas The Bahamas 323,000
178 Iceland Iceland 295,000
179 Belize Belize 270,000
180 Barbados Barbados 270,000
181 France French Polynesia French Polynesia (France) 257,000
182 New Caledonia New Caledonia (France) 237,000
183 Vanuatu Vanuatu 211,000
184 French Guiana French Guiana (France) 187,000
185 Samoa Samoa 185,000
186 Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) 183,000
187 Guam Guam (US) 170,000
188 Saint Lucia Saint Lucia 161,000
189 São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe 157,000
190 Channel Islands (UK) 149,000[15]
191 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 119,000
192 United States Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands (US) 112,000
193 Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia 110,000
194 Grenada Grenada 103,000
195 Tonga Tonga 102,000
196 Aruba Aruba (Netherlands) 99,000
197 Kiribati Kiribati 99,000
198 Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda 81,000
199 Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands (US) 81,000
200 Seychelles Seychelles 81,000
201 Dominica Dominica 79,000
202 Isle of Man Isle of Man (UK) 77,000
203 Andorra Andorra 67,000
204 American Samoa American Samoa (US) 65,000
205 Bermuda Bermuda (UK) 64,000
206 Marshall Islands Marshall Islands 62,000
207 Greenland Greenland (Denmark) 57,000
208 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands (Denmark) 47,000
209 Cayman Islands Cayman Islands (UK) 45,000
210 Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis 43,000
211 Monaco Monaco 35,000
212 Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 35,000
213 San Marino San Marino 28,000
214 Gibraltar Gibraltar (UK) 28,000
215 Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) 26,000
216 British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands (UK) 22,000
217 Palau Palau 20,000
218 Cook Islands Cook Islands (NZ) 18,000
219 Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna (France) 15,000
220 Nauru Nauru 14,000
221 Anguilla Anguilla (UK) 12,000
222 Tuvalu Tuvalu 10,000
223 France Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (France) 6,000
224 Saint Helena Saint Helena (UK) 5,000[16]
225 Montserrat Montserrat (UK) 4,000
226 Falkland Islands Falkland Islands (UK) 3,000
227 Niue Niue (NZ) 1,000
228 Tokelau Tokelau (NZ) 1,000
229 Vatican City Vatican City 783
230 Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands (UK) 67

This 3rd list refers to many geographic areas off less than total nationhood, which explains the diference in list length.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[bigdawg2121]

Some of the countries listed actually send have active and apparently successful fencing federations but represent some other colonial power do they not?

[Purple Fencer]

So how many of these federations is Roch gonna buy off to pass more stupid tihngs like the lexan masks and otherwise maintaoin his power??

[glowstix]

somebody has a bit too much time on their hands..

(btw, i myself left one of the countries on that list for a number of reasons, lack of fencing being one of them. the sport simply can't survive everywhere unfortunately, .)

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

Some of the countries listed actually send have active and apparently successful fencing federations but represent some other colonial power do they not?

What???

I am sorry, but I can not parse that at all. Could you please rephrase that, in more than one sentence?


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by glowstix

somebody has a bit too much time on their hands..

(btw, i myself left one of the countries on that list for a number of reasons, lack of fencing being one of them. the sport simply can't survive everywhere unfortunately

The lists were quoted from Wikipedia, I did not compile them myself.

Which country did you leave, BTW?


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[DHCJr]

Originally Posted by glowstix

somebody has a bit too much time on their hands..

(btw, i myself left one of the countries on that list for a number of reasons, lack of fencing being one of them. the sport simply can't survive everywhere unfortunately, .)

Who says you have to have any fencers to be a voting member of the FIE. Check the rules. Check the International licences. Check the National colors. There are over 100 who are members who don't have fencers in the FIE.

[glowstix]

Originally Posted by DHCJr

Who says you have to have any fencers to be a voting member of the FIE. Check the rules. Check the International licences. Check the National colors. There are over 100 who are members who don't have fencers in the FIE.

they might not have fencers in the FIE but they have fencing clubs and fencers and coaches.

i actually contacted the FIE once regarding this. can't remember the details of the response but essentially you need to have a certain number of clubs, fencers, coaches and a federation of your own already in place...

besides, what good is forming my own federation comprising of myself only where i can't fence anyone and all i'm doing is poking cushions all day??

[D'Art]

Bugger. I was going to form my own country, just so that I could qualify for the Worlds.....

[glowstix]

Originally Posted by D'Art

Bugger. I was going to form my own country, just so that I could qualify for the Worlds.....

seriously, i thought about that but decided against going..i thought it would cheapen the accomplishments of those that actually went through hell to qualify..

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by glowstix

besides, what good is forming my own federation comprising of myself only where i can't fence anyone and all i'm doing is poking cushions all day??

There is a guy from Costa Rica - Arturo Kinch - that formed the Costa Rica Skiing Federation, all by himself. In that way, he has sent himself to the 1980-88 and 2002-2006 Winter Olympic Games.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Beowulfman6]

If Jamaica can have a bobsled team then anyone can have a fencig team if they want it bad enough.

Many of the countries listed are more or less "developed" countries with relatively good economies and GDP's, as well as adequately large populations, but do not have fencing federations. Clearly there are other issues here preventing it. The most obvious is that fenicng just isn't popular there. Almost every civilization in every part of the world engages in some kind of sport, but different things are popular in differnt places.

I think the FIE should definately encourage the growth of the sport in countries that are new to the sport, but only if there is a decent interest already- the FIE can't be fencing missionaries spreading the sport to every hut in africa.

Originally Posted by glowstix

seriously, i thought about that but decided against going..i thought it would cheapen the accomplishments of those that actually went through hell to qualify..

I'm just a little curious where you are from.

[PeterGustafsson]

Post #1 again, new and improved.


Hi!


A stated FIE goal is to spread fencing further around the globe, so I decided to check out which countries could concievably maintain a viable fencing federation (FF), but presently do not.

Fencing tends to survive better in non-poor countries. I got the following list of GDP/person for most countries from Wikipedia, and I took away countries which I know already have a FF.

Rank Country GDP(dollars) per capita
32 The Bahamas 18,062
40 Oman 12,664
41 Trinidad and Tobago 12,625
44 Saint Kitts and Nevis 10,895
46 Antigua and Barbuda 10,727
50 Seychelles 8,556
56 Libya 6,696
57 Botswana 6,439
58 Gabon 6,397
59 Equatorial Guinea 6,205
66 Mauritius 5,029
68 Saint Lucia 4,963
71 Grenada 4,670
75 Belize 4,146
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3,950
79 Jamaica 3,657
83 Fiji 3,349
84 Algeria 3,086
93 Albania 2,673
96 Suriname 2,637
98 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,384
99 Maldives 2,350
100 Swaziland 2,336
102 Angola 2,129
103 Tonga 2,106
104 Cape Verde 2,066
106 Samoa 1,832
112 Vanuatu 1,530
115 Syrian Arab Republic 1,464
119 Sri Lanka 1,200
123 Bhutan 1,126
124 Guyana 1,039
126 Djibouti 973
127 Cameroon 952
128 Côte d'Ivoire 900
131 Sudan 820
134 Pakistan 728
137 Kiribati 672
139 Papua New Guinea 662
140 Chad 654
141 Zambia 627
142 Lesotho 621
144 Comoros 615
145 Solomon Islands 611
146 Benin 592
148 Kenya 560
149 Ghana 512
150 Laos 485
152 Kyrgyz Republic 473
157 São Tomé and Príncipe 430
158 Bangladesh 400
159 Zimbabwe 383
160 Togo 377
161 Tajikistan 364
163 Timor-Leste 352
164 Tanzania 336
165 Central African Republic 335
166 Mozambique 331
167 Nepal 322
168 The Gambia 306
169 Uganda 303
171 Madagascar 282
173 Rwanda 242
175 Myanmar 219
176 Eritrea 209
178 Liberia 161
179 Malawi 161
180 Ethiopia 153
182 Burundi 107

Note that there are FIE member federations from the countries ranked #181,177,174,172,170. It is therefore possible to have a FF even in quite poor countries.

More importantly, all countries ranked #31 or higher in GDP/capita have fencing. Of the top-10 countries that do not have fencing, 4 are from the carribean (which has several FF in other countries), 4 are from Africa, 1 from the arabian countries, and one small ocean island nation.

Considering that there already are several Carribean nations with a FF (and Florida to boot) that have reasonably high GDP/Capita, that is an area where expansion efforts could prove fruitful. Future fencers from those countries would not have too long travel to their nearest international competitors.

A similar argument could be made for 4 Arabic-speaking countries (Oman, Libya, Algeria, Syria) which have access to reasonably close competitors and mentoring/sponsoring countries.

Bosnia and Albania seem to be the only white spots on the major fencing continent, but I predict that will change within a few years.

If one looks at the bottom of the list, one sees that there are no really poor countries which are reasonably close to a fencing country of respectable strength. Probably no new fencing countries from among that crowd.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

So how many of these federations is Roch gonna buy off to pass more stupid things like the lexan masks and otherwise maintain his power??

Your question presumes two things:
1. Rene Roch has the personal wealth to influence national organizations. Even for small countries, that is quite a lot of money for a private individual.
2. RR has a significant amount of money, but no other avenue to further his wealth and power.

C´mon - if he were so rich, why would he not simply buy poor IOC members to guarantee 12 Olympic events, and a fencing presence at the OG forever after?

Oh, BTW: the lists I showed in posts 1-3 were of countries which did not have fencing federations. Even if he wanted to, RR can not possibly bribe a nonexistent entity.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[introspective]

Peter:

All anyone has to do is bring a good fencing team abroad and then you'll be able to start a club. The US never had good fencing until after the defection of a group of olympic fencers from Hungry during the cold war. When they got here, they split up around the country and formed little clubs. Eventually they became fully staffed clubs sending contenders off to Nationals and so forth. So it always begins with small steps. The expectation that a small country will suddenly make a big spash is unrealistic. It takes 20+ years for a team to develop and grow. Many of them are retired by have passed on their salles to the coaches they have developed over the years.