László Tóth has been elected as the EJU's new President ©EJU

László Tóth has been elected as the President of the European Judo Union (EJU) at the organisation's Extraordinary Congress today in Vienna with his term set to run until December 2024.

Around 110 delegates from 49 nations were present in the Austrian capital where Envic Galea of Malta was selected as general treasurer while Austria's Martin Poiger was confirmed as general secretary.

"It’s an enormous honour to be the eleventh President of the EJU," said Hungarian official Tóth, who was formerly in charge of his country's judo federation.

"I strongly believe that we are gathering the best team for European judo in order to secure the successes of our National Federations.

"We currently have five Olympic and eight World champions.

"We are eager to consolidate this strong position at the upcoming top events.

"We are all looking forward to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when France will try to defend their mixed team title.

"Judo in Paris will be for sure a special highlight.

"Our main focus is to secure a close cooperation with the International Judo Federation.

"Content-wise we will be discussing sports and education matters first."

Vienna played host to the EJU Extraordinary Congress which saw Envic Galea selected as general treasurer while Martin Poiger was confirmed as general secretary ©EJU
Vienna played host to the EJU Extraordinary Congress which saw Envic Galea selected as general treasurer while Martin Poiger was confirmed as general secretary ©EJU

The war in Ukraine has prompted changes at the EJU, with Russian President Sergey Soloveychik stepping down after 15 years at the helm on February 28.

Otto Kneitinger took over as Interim President, but recommended Tóth to stand for the role in today's election.

"Dr Lászlo Tóth is the perfect fit for being EJU President," said Kneitinger.

"He organised more than 20 prime judo events for Hungary in the past 20 years.

"The Hungarian Judo Association is a role model for many other countries and federations."

Tóth was President of the Hungarian Judo Association for more than 24 years and was also the EJU general treasurer and member of the executive committee since 2002.

Hungarian judokas won three Olympic medals, 16 World Championship and 54 European Championships medals under his Presidency.

The election also saw nine new members elected to the EJU Executive Committee which are Kristiina Pekkola of Sweden, Slovenia's Urska Zolnir Jugovar, Swiss Sergei Aschwanden, Malta's Envic Galea, Turkey's Sezer Huysuz, Kosovan Agron Kuka, Israeli Moshe Ponte, Ronnie Saez of Britain and Poland's Jacek Zawadka.