Meet the new President Johan Eliasch

MEET nEw FiS PrESiDEnT JOhan EliaSch

by the President’s Office

On 4th June 2021, a new era started as delegates at the 52nd International Ski Congress, held virtually, elected Johan Eliasch as the fifth president in the history of FIS.

Mr Eliasch ran a campaign that promised change. He said his election was a clear indication from delegates that they are ready to embrace change as FIS moves into the future.

“I will be engaged, open-minded and transparent and a president that represents all nations and all disciplines, and now let us go to work,” Mr Eliasch said.

The dual citizen of Great Britain and Sweden was born in 1962 in Sweden. He spent many years working in the sports manufacturing industry, having previously worked in private equity. Twenty-five years ago, he acquired Austrian sporting goods company HEAD, which subsequently was built into one of the world’s leading private companies.

Beyond the sporting world, Mr Eliasch has become a leading expert on solutions to issues caused by climate change, advising the UK Government, among others, on deforestation and clean energy. In 2005, he created the Rainforest Trust, and in 2006, co-founded Cool Earth, a charity sponsoring local non-governmental organisations to conserve endangered rainforests.

He has advised British prime ministers and shadow ministers over many years, and is currently president of the political think tank, Global Strategy Forum.

Mr Eliasch has many business interests that have allowed him to build a considerable knowledge base. He is chairman of Equity Partners, and the Saatchi Gallery; and a director of Aman Resorts, London Films, the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment, Longleat and Pitch@Palace Global. He is an advisory board member of the

All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, Brasilinvest, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Mr Eliasch has previously served on the boards of IMG (2006-13) and the British Paralympics Association (2002-09), the sports advisory board of Shimon Peres Peace Centre (1997-2016), the advisory boards of the World Peace Foundation (1996-2002), Societe du Louvre (2005-15), the Centre for Social Justice 2004-15, the British Olympic Association (2003-12) and Capstar (2013-15). He was non-executive chairman of Starr Managing Agents (2008-15) and Investcorp Europe (2010-14), non-executive director of Acasta Enterprises (2015-17), a member of the Mayors of Jerusalem and Rome’s International Business Advisory Councils (2010-16), and a trustee of the Kew Foundation (2010-16). He chaired the Food, Energy and Water security program at RUSI (2010-16) and was a member of the Mayor of London’s (Boris Johnson) International Business Advisory Council (2008-16).

In 2007 he was commissioned by the UK Government to undertake an independent review into the role of international finance mechanisms to help preserve global forests thereby tackling climate change, ‘The Eliasch Review’, which was launched by the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street in October 2008. The Eliasch Review has served as a guideline for REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as part of the international climate change convention.

Mr Eliasch moved his principal residence to London in 1984 and became a British citizen in 2004. He lives in London but undertakes his activities from various locations.

FiS STaFF 2021

by andreas wenger

FIS employs 68 people with a full-year contract, the equivalent of 57 full-time staff members. There are 24 administrative staff positions at the FIS Office in Oberhofen (SUI), and 44 staff members are working in competition management, including media coordinators and technical experts. Eighteen nationalities from four continents are represented and 30 per cent of the employees are women.

There was a major change in the FIS administration, with long-time Secretary General Sarah Lewis (GBR/SUI) released by the FIS Council in October 2020 after more than 25 years’ employment. FIS takes the opportunity to thank Sarah for her engagement and commitment over the past two-and-a-half decades. The FIS Council appointed Philippe Gueisbuhler (SUI/AUT) as Director to take over the tasks. He was the former Director of the Global Association of International Sports Federations and has excellent knowledge of the functioning of International Sports Federations.

In competition management, the following changes were made: Klaus Waldner (AUT) became the new Race Director Cross, succeeding JP Baralo (FRA). Together with Uwe Beier (GER), Waldner is responsible for the development of Ski and Snowboard Cross. Long-time Equipment Controller Ski Jumping Sepp Gratzer (AUT) retired in spring 2021 and Mika Jukkara (FIN) became his successor. Silke Tegethof (GER) left FIS after 10 years and Sophie Hargesheimer (GER) took over the role as Media Coordinator Nordic Combined.

The long-term FIS Development Programme Consultant, Josef Zenhäusern (SUI), finished his assignment in autumn 2020. FIS engaged Dimitrije Lazarovski (SRB) as his successor and he took over the responsibility for the Development Department, including the SnowKidz programme.

Furthermore, there was a change in the Anti-Doping Department. Wanda WallaceJones (ITA) replaced Daniela Wimmer (AUT) as Anti-Doping Coordinator from the beginning of 2021.

Last but not least, Lukas Brawand (SUI) started his internship in the Marketing Department in September 2020 and FIS was able to employee him from the beginning of March 2021 as FIS Communications and Digital Marketing Assistant.

Josef Zenhäusern

Sepp Gratzer

Silke tegethof

FiS FinancES 2020

by Sibylle gafner

The current accounting period covers the period from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021. The 2020 financial statement was checked both by the external and internal auditors and put to the FIS Council for approval. The FIS Council approved the statement at its online meeting and the FIS Congress also signed it off by means of an online vote.

Financial STaTEMEnT

The 2020 accounting period closed with a profit of CHF 1.47 million. Turnover of CHF 22.76 million was offset by operating costs of CHF 21.7 million, with management of assets contributing CHF 0.41 million to the result.

Financial DiviDEnDS

Due to the difficult global situation, the national ski associations (NSAs) voted online to approve the proposal prepared by the FIS Council with regard to FIS dividends. In accordance with the proposal, the financial dividends for the years 2020 and 2021 were calculated on the following basis:

The distribution of financial support will now follow these principles:

1. Basic share for all FIS member associations (12.5% of the total)

2. Additional share (87.5%) based on: i. Active registered athletes in each FIS discipline in the Olympic programme – one point allocated per discipline and gender ii. The organisation of FIS competitions in the above-named disciplines – points allocated for the total number of competitions per discipline iii. Participation in FIS Alpine and Nordic World Ski Championships, as disciplines that generate revenue towards financial backing – the current number of participants should be used based on the existing system

In 2020 CHF 5 million was paid out to the NSAs in funding, with 75 full members and 55 part-members benefiting.

The profit-sharing (“special distribution”) amount was also calculated according to the current principles, and it was possible to pay out CHF 5.5 million to the 75 full members.

The following overview shows details of the accounting period from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021. To ensure comparability, the sums from both years of the previous period (2018-2019) are also shown.

ACCoUntS 01.01.2020 - 31.12.2021

[000s CHF / TCHF]

InCome And exPendItUreS

InCome

Olympic Winter Games

World Ski Championships

World Cups

National Association Fees (NSA)

Other income totAl InCome

Personnel Costs

Operation Costs

Financial Support for NSA

oPerAtInG reSUlt

FINANCIAL RESULT

ordInArY reSUlt

EXCEPTIONAL RESULT

oVerAll reSUlt

totAl FInAnCIAl SUPPort to nSAs

[000s CHF / TCHF]

Financial Support

Special Distribution (from result of previous period)

FIS Solidarity and

FD General Financial Support

totAl FInAnCIAl SUPPort to nSAs 2020 2019 2018

13.007 11.455 6.626 1.009 17.018 1.083 4.888 4.115 3.889 1.792 2.298 2.219 2.067 557 794

22.763 35.443 14.611

-12.050 -12.174 -12.370 -4.586 -3.860 -4.287 -5.039 -5.060 -5.020

1.008 14.349 -7.066

413 4.145 106

1.501 18.494 -6.960

-33 218 -79

1.468 18.712 -7.039

2020 2019 2018

5.040 5.060 5.020 5.500 7.500 7.500

226 283 335

10.766 12.843 12.855

FiS DEvElOPMEnT PrOgraMME uPDaTE

by Stefanie gerber

The FIS Development Programme distributed financial aid to 41 National Ski Associations (NSAs) for the development of skiing in their respective regions and countries. The FIS Development Programme’s funds are generated through the registration fees paid by candidates for the FIS World Championships and the contribution from the FIS Special Distribution. Besides modest direct financial support to the Development Programme’s member associations, the programme offers a wide range of projects and activities.

As a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic, there were several cancellations and postponements of training camps. Nevertheless the NSAs were very grateful that activities could take place and teams could train with implemented security and health protocols.

Training caMPS

alPinE winTEr Training caMP

Date: 18th October-2nd November 2020 (first phase) Place: Stubaital/Mölltal/Pitztal/Hintertux (AUT) NSAs: BLR, BRA, CYP, KOS, LAT, LTU, POR, TPE, TUR Participants: 13 Status: Camp had to be cancelled from 2nd November 2020 due to new Covid-19 regulations issued by the Austrian Government. The camp was originally scheduled to run until 14th November 2020.

Date: 2nd period 6th-30th January 2021 (second phase) Place: Stubaital/Mölltal/Pitztal/Hintertux (AUT) NSAs: ARG, BIH, ESP, GRE, HUN, SVK, ROU Participants: 10 Status: Camp had to be postponed from November to December 2020 and was then rescheduled for January 2021.

crOSS-cOunTry winTEr Training caMP

Date: 9th-20th December 2020 Place: Online NSAs: AND, ARG, ARM, BOL, CHI, ESP, HUN, KGZ, LAT, LBN, MKD, SRB Participants: 20 coaches and 32 athletes

Ski JuMPing/nOrDic cOMbinED winTEr Training caMP

Date: 10th-16th January 2021 Place: Szczyrk (POL) Status: Cancelled/postponed due to Covid-19 global pandemic

Ski JuMPing/nOrDic cOMbinED

Date: 14th-19th February 2021 Place: Villach (AUT) Status: Cancelled/postponed due to Covid-19 global pandemic

FrEESTylE-SnOwbOarD Park & PiPE winTEr Training caMP

Date: 28th March-2nd April 2021 Place: Laax (SUI) NSAs: EST, GRE, HUN, MKD, UKR Participants: Five coaches and nine athletes

EDucaTiOn anD SEMinarS

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and uncertain travel restrictions, the FIS Development department delivered an online seminar with presentations from FIS experts Sandro Pertile, Sarah Fussek, Rasmus Damsgaard and Jenny Shute. The seminar was open to all FIS, International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee members.

FiS yOuTh anD chilDrEn’S SEMinar

Topic: Solutions for integrating Covid-19 measures Date: 15th October 2020 Place: Online seminar

The FIS Development Leaders seminar and women’s seminar have been postponed until 2022 and a four-year plan will be developed to ensure informative and fruitful sessions in the future for our FIS development nations.

aPEX 2100 SchOlarShiP 2020/21

In March 2019, FIS and the Apex2100 International Ski Academy announced the institution as the first official “FIS Development Programme Academy Partner”. Apex will provide high-level facilities in Tignes (FRA) and programmes to support the FIS Development Programme and its member NSAs.

As part of the partnership, Apex provided two one-season scholarships to one female and one male Alpine athlete to train with fellow athletes aiming to follow their ambitions to ski at the highest level of Alpine racing. After a long selection process FIS and the Apex2100 International Ski Academy awarded the scholarships to Attila Eberhard Banyai (HUN) and Katarina Srobova (SVK).

FiS DEvElOPMEnT PrOgraMME acTiviTiES 2021/22

As per the 2020/21 season, the FIS Development Programme in 2021/22 will include camps in the Cross-Country, Nordic Combined, Alpine Skiing and Freestyle Skiing/ Snowboard disciplines, as well as traditional seminars. Moreover, the 2021/2022 season’s free training days will be provided by the candidates of the FIS World Championships 2026/27. Thanks to constructive input from the NSAs, the FIS Development Programme continues to evolve.