FIS MEDIA INFO: First Decisions of the FIS Council at its Spring Meeting in Cape Town (RSA)

Cape Town, May 27th, 2008 – The FIS Council has been holding its traditional sprint meetings at the 46th International Ski Congress in Cape Town (RSA), the first-ever FIS Congress being organized on the African continent. During the first two days of meetings on 26th-27th May, it made several decisions related to the FIS World Championships:

The Council confirmed the dates for the 2011 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) as 8th-20th February 2011. Those for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo (NOR) were confirmed as 22nd February-6th March 2011. The reports on the preparations for the 2009/2010/2011 FIS World Ski Championships and Junior World Championships will be delivered to the FIS Congress on Friday 30th May. Moreover, The Council confirmed the Italian Winter Sports Federation as organizer of the 2009 FIS Roller Ski World Championships in Piglio (Frosinone). The Norwegian Ski Association was appointed as the organizer of the 2011 FIS Telemark World Championships in Rjukan and of the 2011 FIS Roller Skiing World Championships in Aure/Hemne/Kristiansund.

The Council thanked the great efforts delivered by the organizers of the 2007 FIS Junior World Championships for Cross-Country Skiing in Malles (ITA), for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in Zakopane (POL) and for Snowboarding in Valmalenco (ITA). For the 2010 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships, La Parva and El Colorado (CHI) were appointed as replacement sites for Termes de Chillan, subject to the outcome of the test events in August 2008 (the main event to take place in August 2010). The Council also appointed France with the Mont-Blanc region (Chamonix, Les Houches, Megève and St-Gervais) as a future organizer of the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships with the year of the event to be confirmed in November 2008.

In terms of the FIS Nordic Junior Ski Championships, Estonia with Otepää was appointed as the 2011 host. Furthermore, the Council decided that due to the significant increase in numbers of participating athletes following the inclusion of the Under-23 (U-23) Cross-Country World Championships since 2006, the FIS Nordic World Junior Championships would be organized as an individual event, with the U-23 Cross-Country events to be carried out separately in the future.

Finally, the Council also decided that the elected Organizers of the senior FIS World Championships in the respective disciplines will be obliged to organize the FIS Junior World Championships 1 or 2 years before or after their major event.

Please note that the organizers of the 2012/2013 FIS World Championships will be elected by the FIS Council on Thursday 29th May, 2008. Live streaming from the announcement of the election results will be available on the FIS web site on www.fis-ski.com as of ca. 18:45 CET.

The proposals from the Sport Technical Committees will be reviewed by the Council in its meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. Other items still on the Council's agenda include Optimization of the Alpine World Cup, review of the current status and findings of the FIS Injury Surveillance System as well as plans for the international multi-year marketing and activity campaign entitled “Bring Children to Snow”, designed to generate passion for snow activities among the younger generations.

For further information, please contact Riikka Rakic, FIS Communications Manager, on rakic@fisski.com or +41 79 64 34 281.