Decisions Of The FIS Council At Its Spring Meeting 2022

The FIS Council held its Spring meeting in-person for the first time since the pandemic in Milan (ITA) on 25th May and dealt with a full agenda, including reports from Organising Committees of the FIS World Championships and Olympic Winter Games, the appointment of technical officials, proposals from the FIS Technical Committees, FIS World Cup calendars and rules updates.

“It was a very positive and productive meeting with our last gathering together before the next FIS Council is elected tomorrow,” said FIS President Johan Eliasch. “Today’s meeting sets the perfect tone for tomorrow’s Congress where our General Assembly will continue to propel FIS forward with its decisions.”

The main decisions of the online Council meeting are as follows:

• FIS World Cup calendars 2022-2023. All FIS World Cup Calendars for the upcoming 2022-2023 season were approved by the Council. The approved calendars will be published on the FIS website shortly.
• FIS World Championships – Election and Appointment of Future Hosts. The Council will elect the hosts of the 2026 and 2027 FIS World Championships later this evening. The results will be distributed in a separate press release.
• Future Olympic Winter Games and World Championship Reports. Reports were received from the recently concluded Olympic Winter Games 2022 in Beijing (CHN) in addition to reports from the Youth Olympic Winter Games in Gangwon (KOR) 2024 and the 2026 Olympic Winter Games Cortina-Milano (ITA).
• Reports were also received from all of the hosts of the future FIS World Championships who have been elected through 2025. Representative Council members also provided an oral report about the preparations for FIS Junior World Championships through 2025.

Preparations for all of the above events are on schedule and progressing well.

Fluorinated Ski Wax Prohibition

As previously reported, FIS, IBU and the manufacturer Bruker have developed the fluor testing instrument. During that time, several field validations tests have been conducted to ensure the quality of the device. Those tests have shown that the accuracy and precision of the instrument is very good. There will be collaboration in the off-season between all stakeholders to ensure that all questions can be answered, especially in regards to sanctions, before the device is fully operational at the start of the 2022-23 season.

The main objective of the project is to have environmentally friendly and fair competitions for the benefit of the sport and the athletes.

Change of Licence Registration. A total of 38 athletes across all FIS disciplines have changed their National Association licence registration in accordance with birth, family and/or residence requirements.

Technical Committees. Various updates to the International Competition Rules (ICR) were made. A more detailed summary for each discipline has been published on the FIS website. Noteworthy decisions from each discipline include the following:

• Cross-Country Skiing. The distances for men’s and women’s competitions will be the same starting with the upcoming 2022-23 World Cup season.
• Ski Jumping. There were several adjustments regarding the competition material. For example, the ski tip and the radius were redefined.
• There will be a new measurement procedure for the athlete body measurements. In the future, the body height will be determined with a laser tool while lying down or sitting.
• Nordic Combined. The 2022/23 season will include the premiere of the Mixed Team in Planica (SLO).
• The PCR will no longer be used. All athletes present may participate in the competitions.
• Alpine Skiing. Calendars for the season 2022/23 were approved with total number of 40 women’s World Cup races and 42 for the men.
• It was agreed that any Alpine Combined Speed and Tech series would not be implemented in the upcoming season and it will be further discussed next Spring.
• Future parallel race time penalties will be the actual time instead of the current 0.50 second penalty
• Anti-Doping Update. The Council received updates on both National and International level doping cases.

Honorary Committee Members. The following individuals granted given Honorary Committee Membership status thanks to their long-term dedication to FIS-

• Vegard Ulvang – Cross Country Executive Board
• Bernhard Russi – Alpine Executive Board
• Ken Read – Alpine Executive Board and Youth and Children’s Questions
• Klaus Leistner – Advertising Committee
• Urs Dietrich – Alpine Citizen Racers
• Per Kjellstrom – Speed Skiing Committee
• Honorary Member. The Council proposed that Peter Schroecksnadel be named an Honorary Member for his many years serving the FIS Council. The FIS Congress will vote on the proposal tomorrow.

FIS Congress

As per the new FIS Statutes, the FIS Congress will now take place every year, instead of once every two years. The odd numbered years will be held online, while the even number years will be held in-person. In line with the Statutes, the 54th International Ski Congress will take place next Spring online. The FIS Council granted the hosting rights for the 55th International Ski Congress in 2024 to Reykjavik, Iceland.

FIS National Associations

The FIS Council will propose to the upcoming Congress that two new candidates be granted Associate Membership status. The Congress will vote on the below tomorrow during the General Assembly. If approved, FIS would have a total of 137 Member Nations.

• Saudi Winter Sport Federation (Associate Member)
• Uruguayan Ski & Snowboard Association (Associate Member)