Kaspar Wishes A Happy New Year To The FIS Family

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper has sent new year wishes to the FIS family:

"Welcome to 2020. It marks not only the turn of a calendar for the year, but also the start of a new decade. Therefore, I wanted to take the opportunity not just to reflect on the last 365 days, but also the last 10 years in the world of skiing and snowboarding.

"As always, I want to start with the heart of FIS: our competitions. The last 10 years we have seen three Olympic Winter Games on three continents, bringing a global audience closer to all of our disciplines. We also put on more than 4,000 World Cup competitions on all five continents. And naturally, we crowned our World Champions at more than 30 FIS World Championships.

"But behind these numbers is where the real stories lie. Stars were born, legends retired, dreams came true and aspirations were also shattered. We introduced new competitions, new formats, we brought our events into cities, we went to new countries and we brought in innovations in the way we presented our sports, not only to better inform our existing fans and followers, but to spark the interest of the next generation of enthusiasts. It is a continual challenge to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded sports calendar, but I can say in the last decade, we have taken steps to live up to the expectations.

"Away from the slopes, there were two overriding themes that have had a direct impact on our sport.

"The influence of climate change on the winter environment has affected our daily business in the ski industry. We know that we can no longer count on stable winters of years past and we must be flexible and prepared to deal with the reality of the new climate conditions. With the recently concluded Mainau Environment Forum, we addressed this very serious issue with the top scientists in the field. The good news is that the environment is not only of top concern for FIS, but it is also one of the biggest talking points in daily life. Only when everyone makes changes in their habits will we be able to tackle climate change and it is heartening to see that this serious topic is now at the forefront of the news and global agenda.

"Sadly, the second theme that dominated the last decade was doping in sport. We have seen through the on-going Russian doping scandal the deep harmful impact that doping has on all sports. This is a story that will go on well into the next decade. There is no easy solution to putting an end to doping in sport. FIS will continue to play its part in keeping sport clean through testing and education and we will work together with our stakeholders to ensure we keep our sport clean.

"On a positive note, it is with great satisfaction that I look back at the last ten years and can see that our long-term partners have been with FIS since at least the last turn of the decade. Names like Audi, Viessmann, Longines and Halti are well-known in the ski world thanks to their long-term dedication to supporting FIS and snow sports. Thank you to all of our sponsors, without your support, we would not be able to achieve many of the numbers I mentioned above.

"When this season started, many headlines were about the retirements of our brightest stars – specifically in Alpine, where we lost some of our biggest names. The question was always the same: Will the World Cup survive? We are well into the 2019-2020 season and the answer is a resounding yes. I cannot thank the great ambassadors of our sport enough for everything they have done to bring skiing to the mainstream, but ultimately our sport is bigger than one person, something which I also believe on a personal level.

"In November, when I announced my intention to retire this May, I knew I would leave FIS confident that it is in strong and stable condition. FIS is bigger than just one person. It is a team made up of thousands of stakeholders, from the National Ski Associations, Organisers, athletes, coaches, technical officials, staff, volunteers and countless more. Like our star athletes, I may not be directly involved with FIS business in the future, but skiing will always be a major part of my life.

"I would like to close by wishing all of our Organisers, athletes, media representatives, partners and sponsors, fans and followers a successful, healthy and peaceful 2020. We certainly have an exciting year, and decade ahead of us.

"Gian Franco Kasper

"FIS President"