Excitement in the ski circus

Kriechmayr on FIS dispute: “I don’t know anything about it”

Vincent Kriechmayr

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Ski ace Vincent Kriechmayr is deliberately staying out of the dispute over the future marketing of the FIS disciplines. "It's very important to me that I inform myself first before I give my opinion - and I don't know anything about that," said the speed specialist in Val Gardena/Gröden. In the previous week, a number of his colleagues had strongly criticized the FIS and its president Johan Eliasch. Kriechmayr said that he "didn't even realize" what it was all about.

In the background is a possible 400 million euro investment by the financial company CVC in the FIS. Because Eliasch is said to have rejected the offer - which he denies - stars such as Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt accused the FIS of a lack of transparency in two letters and demanded not to be ignored in important future decisions. In response, Eliasch claimed that the letters were not to be taken seriously and that many had signed them without being able to see through the content.

Scherer: "Utopian announcements by the FIS President"
 According to ÖSV Managing Director Christian Scherer, the FIS "should have examined the offer more closely", as he told the APA. "The athletes have spoken out - probably encouraged by the FIS President's utopian announcements about prize money like in tennis - because most of the promises were not kept. Now everyone has realized that this is not so easy to implement, regardless of central marketing."

The highest prize money for both genders is at Austrian races, Scherer noted with pride, naming the Flachau slalom and the Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbühel. "We are also working on submitting a corresponding proposal to the FIS Congress that there should be a general increase in prize money. We will submit this and then everyone can prove whether they support this motion in the interests of the athletes," revealed the East Tyrolean.

Eliasch's questionable dual role
In a third letter to the FIS management and Eliasch, the athletes also took aim at his controversial dual role. In order to protect athletes equipped by Head, this time only ex-racers Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen and Verena Stuffer, members of the FIS Athletes' Commission, signed the letter. In addition to his role as FIS President, Eliasch will continue to be a non-executive director at Head and will continue to exert great influence.