The Swede is not afraid of duels or of expressing his opinions. In February last year, he raised questions about the rights of hbtqi individuals and women in Saudi Arabia at the federation's congress.
From the podium, he was outvoted, shouted down, and told to stop.
Now he's taking on a new fight, against the powerful oligarch Usmanov, in his hometown of Tashkent on November 30.
Never had as a goal
Drakenberg's candidacy is rooted in a concern about the development within international fencing.
"We have tried to convince other international fencing leaders to run, but failed. For us, it's so important to uphold democracy that we finally decided I would become a candidate. It has never been my goal to become chairman of the International Fencing Federation, but if I'm elected, I'll do my best to develop international fencing in all regions of the world. I believe I'll be able to make good use of my experiences from both sports and business," says Drakenberg in a press release.
Alisher Usmanov is subject to sanctions from, among others, the EU, USA, Canada, and Switzerland.
Usmanov was forced to step down from the chairmanship when the federation's bank accounts were frozen a few days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Formally, the International Fencing Federation has been governed by a secretary general since March 2022, and officially, Usmanov has had no role.
Cannot be chairman
"It's reasonable that the person leading world fencing is not persona non grata in parts of the world. The chairman must be able to represent fencing's interests everywhere and be the one who openly and clearly takes responsibility for the organization's decisions. It's not possible for Usmanov to fulfill that task in this situation," Drakenberg believes.
Usmanov has been chairman since 2008, and in the three most recent elections, there has been no opposing candidate. He represents Russia, despite being an Uzbek citizen.
