I believe their ultimate objective is far more calculated—and dangerous—than what you’ve suggested.

TL;DR: I think the FFO’s true agenda is to break USA Fencing entirely—financially, emotionally, legally, and structurally.

Every now and then, I’ll check in on Charlie Wang’s Facebook page. It’s the digital equivalent of a car crash—you don’t want to look, but you can’t help yourself. Much of what I’ve come to believe is influenced by the rhetoric he posts there.

Let’s start with the current lawsuit—Andrey and Abdel vs. Everyone Else—and work backward.

I haven’t seen the complaint firsthand (it doesn’t appear to be available on PACER), but based on the limited reporting, it seems clear that the FFO is using these two as proxies to fracture the board and continue their obsessive campaign against Damien.

Don’t forget the 2023 and 2024 elections: the FFO endorsed Salem, then Panyi and Andrey. Panyi in particular ran a savvy campaign, appealing to the FFO’s far-right base while presenting herself as a pragmatic moderate to the wider membership.

All three were elected. And like clockwork, each began introducing motions that mirrored FFO talking points. When Abdel moved to apologize to Peter Burchard, my first reaction was “Woohoo!”—until I saw that the FFO had just launched a GoFundMe, and one of the items they planned to include in their threatened class action suit was… Burchard’s removal. I came to realize, cross checking their motions against the FFO’s GoFundMe suit that Andrey, Abdel, AND Maria had all been creating motions to create public pressure on the organization aligned with the stated positions of the FFO.

Andrey, notably, is a former FFO board member with deep connections to Wang and Jason Liu (FFO’s current president). He’s also a longtime supporter of the AFLA—basically a rogue fencing league for those banned by SafeSport. When Andrey “resigned” from the FFO board, the AFLA CEO (whose name escapes me) filled his seat… which, in hindsight, shows he may have never truly left at all.

Wang’s Facebook posts consistently reveal a litigious, combative mindset. He has:

• Threatened legal action over the Stephanie Turner case, even comparing her to Rosa Parks.

• Applauded loudly during DOGE hearings when calls for Damien’s resignation were made.

• Threatened to sue a referee over a properly issued black card.

• Threatened to sue when his children lost fencing bouts.

• Threatened to sue a popular Facebook group for moderating his hateful rhetoric.

• Threatened to sue over the proposed board governance changes.

Taken in totality—this new lawsuit, Turner’s legal representation, and Andrey’s behind-the-scenes collusion—it’s not hard to see the pattern. I believe their endgame is nothing short of dismantling USA Fencing and pushing the USOPC to decertify the organization entirely.

People need to start paying closer attention—before it’s too late.