FIS MEDIA INFO: Decisions of the FIS Council at its Autumn Meeting 2012 in Oberhofen (SUI)

03.11.2012 Oberhofen, Switzerland//--The FIS Council held its Autumn Meeting at the FIS Office in Oberhofen (SUI) on Saturday 3^rd November and dealt with a full agenda, including reports from Organising Committees for future FIS World Championships, the appointment of technical officials as well as proposals from the FIS Technical Committees with calendar updates and a number of rules.

The main decisions of the Council in Obehofen include the following:

Decisions directly related to ski sports

FIS World Cup calendars 2012/2013 to 2016/2017

Minor modifications to the FIS World Cup Calendars for the 2012/2013 season proposed by the respective Technical Committees were approved, the final versions of which are available on the FIS website. The Alpine World Cup calendars for 2013/14 were sent back to the Committee for revision, notably for the ladies, due to the late opening of the main part of the World Cup season in central Europe. 

FIS World Championships and Junior World Championships

-       Chamonix (FRA) was appointed as Organiser of the Telemark Junior World Championships on 9th - 10th February 2013

Olympic Winter Games and Youth Olympics

The progress report was received from Sochi 2014 after which the Council expressed its opinion that the Games will be a great success. Nevertheless the Members expressed their concerns about the second decrease in the number of spectators and the lack of apparent interest for the FIS disciplines in comparison to the Ice Sports.

World Cup prize money for 2013/2014

The minimum values of prize money for the 2013/2014 World Cup season were confirmed.

Lindsey Vonn request to participate in Men’s World Cup races

The Council respected Lindsey Vonn’s proposal to participate in Men’s World Cup races and confirmed that one gender is not entitled to participate in races of the other and exceptions will not be made to the FIS Rules. In terms of her request to participate in the men’s downhill in Lake Louise, she is welcome to submit a request to the Organising Committee and jury to be a forerunner.

Anti-Doping

The FIS Athletes Anti-Doping Rules 2013 have been adapted to fully implement the Athletes Blood Passport and its consequences, also in terms of start prohibition.

Technical Committees

Cross-Country Skiing

The rules for the new BMW xDrive Sprint Cup were approved.

Alpine Skiing

At the FIS Alpine World Cup City Events, World Cup Points are awarded to all competitors for the Slalom World Cup, Overall and Nation Cup (no WCSL Points are awarded neither in Slalom nor Overall).

Specifications for Alpine Technical Equipment

The Council confirmed the clarification to the new specifications for giant slalom skis that have entered into force this season 2012/13, to specify that no turning points shall be established in between the measurement points. The objective of the skis, supported by scientific studies, is to reduce the “aggressive potential” as well as the "self-steering momentum" of the skis and thus to reduce the risk of injury for athletes.

Freestyle Skiing

Council Member Michel Vion reported as chairman of the Ski Cross Working Group on the activities that have been carried out in the past six months. The group of experts coming from ski cross, alpine skiing and snowboardcross reviewed the homologation process, approved the new course building manual, a list of official ski cross builders to construct courses and the work being done to further educate the technical delegates. A full time assistant race director for ski cross has been appointed and technical advisors will assist the Organisers with their preparations and safety aspects.

Snowboarding

Precisions to the ICR in terms of course and specifications were approved.

Other Decisions

The Council had a principle discussion about whether betting companies should be allowed as sponsors and decided that any form of identification on and/or with athletes by betting companies is forbidden with immediate effect. As far as advertising with commercial betting companies at FIS World Cup and World Championship competitions is concerned, existing agreements for this winter season can still be accepted, but no new ones may be entered into and a final decision will be taken in spring 2013. Furthermore, preliminary Rules for Betting were adopted.

FIS Committee Members

Gabriella Paruzzi (ITA) was appointed as Chair of the Ladies Cross-Country Sub-Committee and Niklas Carlsson (SWE) was appointed as Chairman of the Committee for Advertising Matters. The following Honorary Committee Members were appointed:

-    Wolfgang Happle (GER), Sub-Committee for Jumping Hills (40 years of service)

-    Howard Peterson (USA), Committee for Advertising Matters (20 years of service)

The criteria for candidates to the Athletes Commission was confirmed, including:

-     members shall be elected for 2 years, i.e. for the period between FIS World Championships

-     Candidates should be active athletes who are competing at the highest level on a regular basis and must have competed at the previous FIS World Championships 2011 or at World Cup level in season 2010/11

Bring Children to Snow Campaign – FIS World Snow Day

The second FIS World Snow Day will take place on 20^th January 2013 following the success of the inaugural decision in 2012. To date more than 110 Organisers in 24 nations already signed up with considerable interest from many more.

50^th FIS Congress in 2016

The Council welcomed eight excellent Candidates to host the 50^th FIS Congress: Canada Vancouver (CAN), Limassol (CYP), Karlovy Vary (CZE), Reykjavik (ISL), Riccione (ITA), Portoroz (SLO), Interlaken (SUI) and appointed Cancun (MEX) to host this historic meeting.

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About FIS

FIS is the governing body for international skiing and snowboarding, founded in 1924 during the first Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. Recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIS manages the Olympic disciplines of Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding, including setting the international competition rules. Through its 115 member nations, more than 6’500 FIS ski and snowboard competitions are staged annually. Specific initiatives are undertaken by FIS to promote snow activities as a healthy leisure recreation, notably for the young.

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