The background is a conflict between the International Ski Association (FIS) and a large number of national ski associations, including the Norwegian Ski Association. If the conflict is not resolved, the ultimate consequence could be that the confederations, including Norway, start their own “league”, a separate racing program outside the FIS system, news is told. – Today we had a constructive meeting with FIS and we agree to meet again in a few weeks, says Pernilla Bonde, secretary general of the Swedish Ski Association about the meeting. Disagreement in marketing agreement The conflict is primarily about how the marketing rights to World Cup races are to be sold. Where Norway and the other confederations have previously sold their rights themselves, FIS now wants to sell the rights on behalf of all nations, a so-called centralization of the rights. In July, a press release from FIS went out stating that such an agreement had now been concluded with the rights company Infront. FIS wanted this agreement to be signed immediately. But the nations of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland have put themselves on the back foot against the agreement. They have therefore joined together and formed a coalition they call “Snowflake”. As the agreement on the table is confidential, no one will say exactly what is the problem with the agreement. MEDAL: Johan Eliasch hands out World Championship silver to Aleksander Aamodt Kilde during the Alpine World Championships in 2023. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB The challenge is not necessarily a centralization of TV rights, but how the agreement is designed. The countries also react strongly to the fact that they have not been involved in the work. They have therefore refused to sign the agreement. These eight countries have instead worked together for a year and a half and held weekly meetings since October about an alternative structure. The eight countries account for around 65 percent of all World Cup races this winter. – These leading ski associations do not share FIS’s view of how the skiing world should be governed, says an anonymous source in Snowflake. Snowflake has repeatedly tried to get a meeting with FIS about this, without success. For now. Will start own competitions Until now, the various World Cup organizers have been able to sell their TV and marketing rights themselves. When Norway organizes races in Holmenkollen, they themselves are responsible for selling both sponsorship and TV rights. Johan Eliasch, who was elected as FIS president in 2021, will no longer have it this way. In recent weeks, news, SVT and YLE have spoken to a large number of people inside and outside FIS. We have heard of dissatisfaction with Eliasch. The dissatisfaction concerns, among other things, a lack of democratic processes, particularly in connection with the agreement with Infront. When asked directly whether it is appropriate to opt out of FIS, Pernilla Bonde replies as follows: – The ambition is to reach an agreement with FIS. That is what we are working towards. GENERAL SECRETARY: Pernilla Bonde in the Swedish Ski Association. Photo: Maxim Thore / BILDBYRÅN If the eight countries are not heard, they want to start their own competitions outside the FIS system, a kind of super league on snow. – A withdrawal is not the primary goal, but the goal from the start has been to get to the same negotiating table as FIS and find a solution that can be implemented jointly, says one of the central people in Snowflake. We have tried to get in touch with various people in FIS in the work on this matter. Neither FIS president Eliasch, general secretary Michel Vion nor the media department have answered our inquiries on Wednesday afternoon. – A fundamental path choice news’s sports commentator, Jan Petter Saltvedt, is not surprised that the dissatisfaction with Eliasch has gone so far that a kind of super league on snow is now on the table. He nevertheless believes that this is primarily a means of pressure. SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Jan Petter Saltvedt. Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news – The president has shown no signs of meeting his most powerful members – and then it would have to end up being put at the forefront in one form or another. The threats from eight very central members are definitely a threat Eliasch and the FIS leadership must take seriously, says Saltvedt. He believes that it is primarily the procedure of the FIS president that has set the minds of the most important snow sports nations on fire. – This is a discussion that concerns a very fundamental choice of path for the future of FIS, and then one should not rule out any possible consequences. The snowflake nations can currently live better without the FIS than the FIS can live without them. And Johan Eliasch knows that too. Has been working with an alternative agreement for a year and a half Basically, Snowflake wants a solution together with FIS. They want to centralize the rights, as FIS also wants, but they want to do it in a completely different way than the agreement that is on the table. news is informed that both president Johan Eliasch, general secretary Michel Vion and commercial director Christian Salomon stood at Wednesday’s meeting as FIS’ representatives. Snowflake thus primarily reacts to two things: What the planned market agreement looks like. That they are not included in discussions about what it should look like. WITH THE IOC PRESIDENT: Johan Eliasch (right), together with IOC President Thomas Bach. The two women are the Norwegian alpinists Ragnhild Mowinckel and Kajsa Vickhoff-Lie. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB For a year and a half they have therefore worked on their own proposal. news, SVT and YLE know that this work is now starting to take shape. The agreement the countries have worked on is primarily a thought about how FIS should sell its rights, but could therefore lead to Snowflake starting its own competitions. When the FIS press release about the centralization agreement was published in July, Eliasch said the following about the agreement: – I was elected as president with a mandate for change. Where I see areas where we can improve, I will do so, even if it is not easy, Eliasch says in the press release and adds: – We have pressed on in the conviction that centralizing the market rights will be good for the athletes, member states and for anyone in the world who has a passion for snow sports.
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Norway and other top nations threaten to start “super league” – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
