The FIS Congress is in full swing

As meetings continue at the biennial FIS Congress held in Costa Navarino (GRE), some important issues have been discussed already and the committees have agreed on proposals they wish to push forward to the FIS Council for final validation.

Starting with the classification subcommittee, the main topic was the wish to adapt the penalty of the different races held from the FIS level to the World Cup. The aim of this rule adaptation is to better reflect the reality with the points awarded at each race, especially rewarding the World Cup racers better.

In the ladies’ alpine skiing subcommittee, the topic of gender equality was discussed and the subcommittee is supporting various recommendations to improve gender balance within the FIS Council, the Congress, and the various committees. Also, it will be proposed that two athletes can represent the athletes’ commission in the FIS Council, one lady and one man. As no renewed proposal was brought up regarding Lindsey Vonn’s request to race with the men in Lake Louise, this topic was tabled indefinitely.

Discussions on drones took place in the Rules subcommittee, but no conclusion has yet been determined. Safety and fairness must be taken into consideration as well as the legal aspects in each country. The proposal that was on the table in the subcommittee wasn’t approved and will be reviewed – with the wording clarified – in order to be presented again at the meetings in the fall.

The World Cup subcommittee spent quite a lot of time sharing thoughts on various topics raised by the National Ski Associations and the Athletes’ Commission. The proposal to change the enrollment for the City Events has been approved by the subcommittee. If the FIS Council agrees as well, there will be no more national quotas meaning the next racer on the slalom WCSL would move up in the event that a qualified athlete cannot participate in the race. On the topic of a possible reduction of the World Cup starting field, a small step but strong sign was taken by the subcommittee which agreed to reduce the maximum number of athletes from a single nation participating in a race on the men’s side by one athlete (previously a maximum of eight athletes per nation reduced to a maximum of seven). Hannes Reichelt was present to represent his fellow ski racers and mentioned different aspects that the athletes would like to see improved on the World Cup. Even though none of the proposals could be approved as such, the active participation and the interaction with the main actors of the World Cup was appreciated by both sides.

Thursday is the excursion day at the FIS Congress, and a visit to the place of birth of Olympia is on the program. In the evening, there will be what is likely the most important decision, the appointment of the 2023 FIS Ski World Championships. The two candidates for the alpine events are Courchevel-Meribel (FRA) and Saalbach (AUT). Both bids are very serious and prepared on a high level, so the vote by the 16 FIS Council members is likely to be close. Follow the decision live on the @fisalpine Facebook page tomorrow (Thursday 17th May), from 19:00 (local time) / 20:00 (CET) on.