2024-02-22 12:01:26
Eight countries immediately threatened to leave the International Ski Federation.
The ski family is on the path to complete destruction. Following a massive drop in competition in the absence of the Russian national team, the FIS was faced with another problem. Norway and seven other leading skiing countries made a loud statement, the essence of which boils down to a likely withdrawal from the International Ski Association and the creation of a separate tournament.
If this happens, not only this sport will be shaken, but the entire Olympic movement.
Why FIS is really failing
The fact that things are not going very smoothly for the FIS, to put it mildly, was clear even before the introduction of sanctions against Russian athletes. The organization barely survived the coronavirus pandemic, when World Cup stages were canceled en masse, leaving skiers without competitive practice. This happened, for example, before the start of the Beijing Olympics, because of which the athletes had to go to China without any clear preparation. Against this background, the same biathlon looked much more preferable; at least they tried to come up with a way to solve the problem.
In skiing, such attempts seem to have never been made. Russia’s withdrawal has made the situation even more critical. Without Alexander Bolshunov, Natalya Nepryaeva and our other guys, watching the Cup and the World Championship became uninteresting even in Europe. It is no coincidence that the President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR), Elena Vyalbe, recently stated that the West is envious of the Spartakiad and other Russian tournaments, which are organized at least as well as the World Cup.
Someone may see some kind of exaggeration in Elena Valerievna’s words, but the frankly weak financial reports of FIS for the last two years only confirm her position. Add to this the falling views, tournament attendance, troubles with snow – and you get an objective picture. And now eight leading skiing nations are ready to deal a decisive blow to the prestige of the FIS.
Elena Vyalbe / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
What are Norwegians unhappy with and what will it lead to?
It’s all about the centralized distribution of television rights. According to NRK, the new agreement on this issue was opposed by Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. They account for approximately 65 percent of all World Cup starts this season. The day before, the leaders of the ski associations of these countries held a meeting with FIS President Juhan Elias, during which all the claims of the parties were laid out on the table.
But, apparently, no clear consensus could be reached. According to an anonymous NRK source, representatives of eight leading countries have expressed strong disagreement with the FIS over how world skiing should be governed. The head of the Swedish Ski Association, Pernille Bonde, spoke more diplomatically in an interview with NRK, but her message is still clear.
“Our task is to somehow come to an agreement with the FIS. Therefore, we are working in this direction. Leaving it is a likely outcome, but not the goal. We must first sit down at the negotiating table and try to find a way out of the current situation,” the Swede noted.
Juhan Elias / Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.ru
The accuracy of her statements may also be due to the fact that the head of FIS, Elias, is also a Swede. In general, Johan has been heading the organization since 2021; before him, the Swiss Gianfranco Kasper was in charge of this for 13 years. And, obviously, he did it much more successfully. The period of Eliash’s reign is clearly a failure so far and in the future threatens the disappearance of the sport in the professional sense.
And these are not some pretentious words, but a very realistic assessment of the situation. It is absolutely obvious to everyone that without Russia, FIS has already suffered a huge blow to a number of indicators. And if the Norwegians, Swedes and other countries really leave the organization, then the end of world skiing will become a medical fact.
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