The following elected Council Members were present at the meeting in Oberhofen, Switzerland on Tuesday 18 th November 2014:

Transcription

1 To the - Members of the FIS Council - National Ski Associations - Committee Chairmen INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION Blochstrasse Oberhofen/Thunersee Switzerland Tel Fax Oberhofen, 19 th November 2014 Short Summary FIS Council Meeting 18 th November 2014, Oberhofen (SUI) Dear Mr. President, Dear Ski friends, In accordance with art of the FIS Statutes we have pleasure in sending you the Short Summary of the most important decisions of the FIS Council Meeting that took place on 18 th November 2014 in Oberhofen (SUI). 1. Members present The following elected Council Members were present at the meeting in Oberhofen, Switzerland on Tuesday 18 th November 2014: President Gian Franco Kasper, Vice-Presidents: Janez Kocijancic, Sung-Won Lee, Dexter Paine and Sverre Seeberg, Members: Mats Årjes, Dean Gosper, Alfons Hörmann, Roman Kumpost, Flavio Roda, Eduardo Roldan, Peter Schroecksnadel, Martti Uusitalo, Michel Vion, Athletes Commission Observer: Kikkan Randall and Secretary General Sarah Lewis. Excused: Andrey Bokarev, Aki Murasato, Patrick Smith, Guest: Urs Lehmann, President of the Swiss Ski Association 2. Minutes from the Council Meetings in Barcelona (SPA) The minutes from the Council Meetings in Barcelona (SPA) from 2 nd to 5 th June and 6 th June 2014 (newly elected Council) were approved.

2 3. The FIS World Championships 3.1 Reports FIS World Championships The Council Members or representative on behalf of the respective organising National Ski Association reported on the following upcoming events in addition to the written reports provided by the Organising Committees: FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015, Vail/Beaver Creek (USA), 3 rd to 15 th February: Vice-President Dexter Paine FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015, Falun (SWE), 18 th February to 1 st March: Council Member Mats Årjes FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard World Championships 2015, Kreischberg/Murau (AUT), 16 th to 25 th January: Council Member Peter Schröcksnadel FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2016, Kulm/Bad Mitterndorf (AUT), 15 th to 17 th January: Council Member Peter Schröcksnadel FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017, St. Moritz (SUI), 6 th to 19 th February: President Gian Franco Kasper, President Swiss Ski Association Urs Lehmann FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017, Lahti (FIN), 21 st February to 5 th March: Council Member Martti Uusitalo FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard World Championships 2017, Sierra Nevada (SPA), 5 th to 19 th March: Council Member Eduardo Roldan FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2018, Oberstdorf (GER): Council Member Alfons Hörmann FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2019, Åre (SWE): 5 th to 17 th February, Council Member Mats Årjes FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019, Seefeld (AUT): 19 th February to 3 rd March, Council Member Peter Schröcksnadel FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships 2019, Park City (USA): 1 st to 10 th February, Vice-President Dexter Paine The programme for the Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships 2019 in Park City (USA) will be structured so as to avoid overlapping with five days of the Alpine Championships in Åre (SWE) during which the super G and downhill competitions will take place. The Council acknowledged the progress reports from the respective Council Members, representatives and Organising Committees and that all the various preparations appear to be going according to schedule. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

3 Additionally, the Council confirmed the above dates of the 2019 FIS World Championships in Åre (SWE), Seefeld (AUT) and Park City (USA). 3.2 Candidates for future FIS World Championships The Council appointed Sollefteå (SWE) as Organiser for the FIS Roller Skiing World Championships in FIS Alpine World Ski Championships - Qualification In Barcelona the Alpine Committee proposed to the Council to reduce the number of competitors for the 2 nd run from 60 to 30, so the leader after the 1 st run is last to compete as is the case in World Cup. This change was already foreseen for the 2015 Championships. Shortly after the Congress several National Ski Associations raised their concerns, notably because the decision to have 60 participants in the second run of the technical events was a Congress decision in Consequently at its Meeting in Oberhofen, the Council decided it would be necessary to submit a proposal to change of the number of participants in the second run from 60 to 30 to the FIS Congress in 2016, Therefore it is not applicable for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 in Vail Beaver Creek (USA) and the number of participants in the 2 nd run of the technical events at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 in Vail Beaver Creek (USA) will remain at 60. In order that the winning athletes are properly celebrated by the spectators and are captured on the live television transmission, a presentation of the winners through a leaders applause will take place after the top 30 are in the finish, before positions 31 to 60 race. 4. The FIS Junior World Championships 4.1 Future Championships The Council Members or representative on behalf of the respective organising National Ski Association reported on the following upcoming events: FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships 2015, Hafjell (NOR): Vice- President Sverre Seeberg FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships 2015, Almaty (KAZ): Council Member Andrey Bokarev on behalf of the Ski Federation of Kazakhstan (Council representative at the Championships: Roman Kumpost) FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships 2015, Yabuli (CHN): Vice- President Sung Won Lee on behalf of the Chinese Ski Association FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships 2016 in Sochi (RUS): Council Member Andrey Bokarev FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships 2016 in Rasnov (ROU): Secretary General Sarah Lewis on behalf of the Romanian Ski Association (Council representative at the Championships: Roman Kumpost) Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

4 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships 2017 in Klinovec (CZE): Council Member Roman Kumpost The Council acknowledged the progress reports on behalf of the various Organising Committees and confirmed that it will be represented at the respective Championships by the Council Member from the host nation where possible, or as indicated otherwise. 4.2 Candidates for future Junior Championships The Council appointed the following new Organiser: - Valmalenco (ITA) as Organiser of the FIS Junior Freestyle World Ski Championships in The International Olympic Committee / Olympic Winter Games President Gian Franco Kasper reported on the activities of the International Olympic Committee. He stated that it is an important time in the history of the Olympic Movement with the Olympic Agenda 2020, a strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, defining the direction of the organisation in the future and thus to a large extent international sport. President Gian Franco Kasper is a member of the Olympic Summit (a group convened by IOC President Thomas Bach comprising the leaders representing groups of stakeholders in the Olympic Movement to contribute to and drive the Olympic Agenda 2020) and he updated the Council about the latest situation. 14 Working Groups were established as part of Olympic Agenda 2020 to help frame some of the key recommendations that were deliberated by the IOC Commissions and Executive Board, before they will be presented to the Extraordinary IOC Session that will take place on 8 th and 9 th December in Monte Carlo. The Recommendations to shape the future of the Olympic Movement which will be presented to the IOC Session were communicated publicly by the IOC coincidentally during the FIS Council Meeting on 18 th November and they can be viewed in full through the following link 20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Key areas that concern FIS and the Olympic Winter Games are: - Shape the bidding process as an invitation A sustainable approach for the Games will be endorsed, so that existing venues are used instead of insisting on compact Games in order to avoid building white elephants and prevent an explosion of costs on facilities. - Evaluate bid cities by assessing key opportunities and risks The IOC will provide specialist advice to assist shape the bid and reduce the involvement of expensive consultants who are just focused on winning the election. Expertise from the IFs to assist the OCOGs technical preparations for the Games will be facilitated. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

5 - Reduce the cost of bidding - Include sustainability in all aspects of the Olympic Games and within the Olympic Movement s daily operations - Set a framework for the Olympic programme (number of athletes, officials, events) and move from a sport-based to an event-based programme. The limitation of the number of events, athletes and officials for the Olympic Winter Games will remain at the present level of 100 events, athletes and officials. The Games programme should no longer be limited to sports (IFs) but changed to events. Therefore individual events could be replaced and/or introduced from new sports and disciplines. - Reduce the cost and reinforce the flexibility of Olympic Games management Use the knowledge and competence of the International Federations in preparing the organisation of the Game - Change the philosophy to protect clean athletes and honour clean athletes - Protecting clean athletes and support of anti-doping efforts will be a key focus. Strengthen support to athletes The athletes remain at the centre of all 40 of the proposals, with the protection of the clean athletes being at the heart of the IOC s philosophy. The central importance of the athletes experience will be introduced into the evaluation criteria with no compromise on the field of play for athletes, and the paramount importance of the Olympic Village. Presentation of re-distributed medals to athletes following disqualification will be carried out in a more worthy setting than is presently the case. - Launch an Olympic Channel - Review the Youth Olympic Games positioning 5.1 Youth Olympic Winter Games 2016 in Lillehammer The third IOC Coordination Commission for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer (NOR) 2016 took place on 21 st and 22 nd May The FIS technical experts have undertaken inspections and planning meetings with their counterparts in the Organising Committee, LYOCOG. There are two open issues in regard to the FIS disciplines: - The halfpipe will not take place in the Lillehammer area since there is no existing facility there and the ski areas and other stakeholders do not support constructing one. Consequently LYOCOG is negotiating to use the existing facility in Oslo. If this does not prove successful the IOC will appoint a venue outside of Norway to organise Freestyle Ski and Snowboard halfpipe events. - The homologation certificate for the Ski Jumping normal hill expires in 2015 and it is necessary to update the hill-profile to the latest standards. Next winter the 2015 FIS Junior Alpine World Ski Championships in Hafjell will serve as a main preparation event for the Winter Youth Olympic Games the following season. Candidates Winter Youth Olympic Games 2020 Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

6 There are two candidates for the Winter Youth Olympic Games 2022, Lausanne (SUI) and Rasnov (ROU) and the election will take place at the end of July Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

7 5.2 Olympic Winter Games 2018 in PyeongChang There have been a number of changes within the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG) since the last FIS Council Meetings and Congress in Barcelona. Shortly after the Debrief of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang in July 2014, Cho Yang-ho, who is chairman and chief executive officer of the Hanjin Group that includes Korea Air, was appointed as President of POCOG. He also jointly led the 2018 PyeongChang bid. In early October President Cho met FIS President Gian Franco Kasper and Secretary General Sarah Lewis. The key points addressed were the challenges which are presently hampering the preparations for the Games, namely the construction of the Jeongseon Alpine Skiing downhill course, the delay with the plans for the Nordic and Freestyle Skiing-Snowboard Venues and the red tape bureaucracy preventing the engagement of experts. President Gian Franco Kasper and Vice President Sung Won Lee who has been extremely active communicating with the responsible persons in POCOG, Gangwon Province and the Ministry on behalf of FIS reported that there has been notable progress in the past weeks. The IOC in agreement with POCOG decided to postpone the planned IOC Coordination Commission Meeting scheduled for the end of November 2014 in view of the upcoming IOC Extraordinary Session and the possible changes relating to the organisation of the Games. A one-day conference call will take place instead. Application for the Olympic Winter Games Programme in 2018 In accordance with the decision of the FIS Congress in Barcelona that FIS should submit proposals for the inclusion of new events on the programme of the Olympic Winter Games following the outcome and in the context of the Olympic Agenda 2020 when the roadmap for the future programme is defined, FIS communicated this decision to the IOC. Due to the IOC s administrative processes and timetable, applications for potential events had to be submitted by 1 st September 2014 before the outcome of Olympic Agenda Therefore the detailed documentation was submitted for all the FIS disciplines and events discussed at the Congress: Alpine Skiing nations team event, Ski Jumping mixed team event, Nordic Combined team sprint, Snowboard big air and team snowboard cross, Telemark parallel sprint and team parallel sprint. Based on the existing procedure the IOC Executive Board will review the applications and decide on the composition of the programme in April or July Candidates for the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 There are two Candidate Cities for the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China). FIS President Gian Franco Kasper stated that the quality of the candidates is more important than the quantity. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

8 In October, Oslo (NOR) withdrew as a Candidate City after failing to obtain political support. Earlier potential bids for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and Poland were not pursued due to negative public referendums and/or government rejection. The election of the Host City will take place on 31 st July 2015 in Kuala Lumpa (MAL). The Council decided to approve the request of the candidate from Beijing (CHN) to have one downhill course for men and ladies. This is subject to a second finish area for the technical events (giant slalom and slalom) and a lighting system for the downhill course to be able to conduct training runs and eventually competitions in the event of postponements due to weather. 6. AIOWF The Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) of which the FIS leadership Gian Franco Kasper is President and Sarah Lewis is Secretary General has had two meetings since the FIS Council last met in Barcelona. The Debrief from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games took place in Lausanne mid- June together with the IOC and all seven International Federations in order to review the outcomes and share experiences. The following day AIOWF had a gathering of its members to discuss common positions for the Olympic Agenda 2020 Working Group meetings. An additional AIOWF meeting to prepare for the IOC Extraordinary Session took place in early November in Lausanne in conjunction with the IF Forum. Another meeting will take place on the eve of the IOC Extraordinary Session in Monte Carlo. The unanimous and clear position of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations is that the Olympic Winter Games must remain only for sports that take place on snow and ice, in order to protect their identity and ensure that winter resorts and cities will still be able to organise the Winter Games in the future. 7. SportAccord The International Federation Forum organised by the SportAccord Convention took place on 3 rd to 5 th November 2014 under the theme Technology and Innovation. A meeting of the SportAccord Council, of which FIS President Gian Franco Kasper is Senior Vice President and the Winter Sport Federation s representative, took place immediately before the IF Forum. The 48 th SportAccord General Assembly will take place in April 2015 in Sochi (RUS) and will be renamed the SportAccord Convention World Sport and Business Summit. It will still include the General Assemblies of AIOWF, ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations), ARIFS (Association of Recognised International Federations) and the IOC Executive Board, alongside a conference and exhibition. The intention is for persons to attend in 2015 with a plan to carry out the SportAccord Convention in Sochi for the next 5 years. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

9 The SportAccord Beach Games in 2017 will take place in Sochi. Other SportAccord initiatives include an Academy which will be launched in December using various Sports Universities, led by the University of Hungary. A partnership has been signed with Euronews to feature a news summary on SportAccord activities of 30 minutes per week. 8. Financial Matters 8.1 Report of the Finance Commission FIS Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Commission, Sverre Seeberg reported on the financial matters of the International Ski Federation and the status of accounts since the FIS Congress in Barcelona. He had met with the FIS account manager at Credit Suisse on 2 nd October in Zurich for a status review and convened the Finance Commission in Oberhofen the day before the Council Meeting. The accounts per 30 th June 2014 were sent to the Finance Commission previously and the intermediary accounts per 30 th September 2014 were distributed at the Council Meeting in Oberhofen (SUI). Chairman of the Finance Commission, Sverre Seeberg informed the Council that the finances in the early part of the period are on track, the income and expenditure are in line with budget and there have been no major changes since June. Especially pleasing is the 5% profit on the financial investments and a small gain on the currency difference, which is the first time that there has not been a loss on the currencies in many periods. FIS President Gian Franco added that the total income from the IOC from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will only be known in February 2015 as the accounts between the IOC and Sochi 2014 Organising Committee are not yet closed. Following the information given at the Council Meetings in Barcelona, the recent projection from the IOC is that the amount FIS will in fact receive will be USD 3.2 million lower than for Vancouver 2010 due to lower television rights fees, amounting to USD 39 million. Furthermore, due to the exchange rate in comparison to 2010, the income for FIS could be between CHF 9 to CHF 10 million lower compared to the CHF 42 million received from the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver He also reported to the Council that the IOC had informed the Winter IFs the revenues from PyeongChang 2018 should match Vancouver However all International Federations would be obliged to contribute a share to the new Olympic television channel, which will result in a similar outcome as the revenues from Sochi In view of the payments from the IOC in USD and the fluctuations with the currency, the Council furthermore approved the proposal of the Finance Commission to hedge as much of the USD as possible, in order to be on the safe side and not to speculate with the currency market. The FIS Finance Department was tasked with executing the transaction(s) in agreement with the FIS Treasurer and the bank in accordance with this policy, in order not to lose potential time waiting for the next meeting of the Finance Commission. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

10 The Chairman of the Finance Commission, Sverre Seeberg concluded his report by informing the Council that the Finance Commission decided to table the proposal of the professional auditors to review the provisions for liability until establishing the budget for the next financial period in autumn Requests for financial support from the Technical Committees In accordance with the proposals and budgets, the Council approved the following proposals for financial support from the: - Telemark and Grass Skiing Committees for technical courses and activities - Ski Jumping Committee for support to determine flight-trajectories on jumps with hill size smaller than 110m for the development of jump construction standards, as well as an investigation of the effect of modified suits on speed, flight trajectory, flight distance and landing height equivalent in female ski jumpers. - FIS Injury Surveillance System (ISS) for prevention of lower back pain in youth alpine ski racing (follow-up project) and Alpine World Cup online questionnaire on course setting, snow conditions and safety. 8.3 Financial Support and Special Distribution to the National Ski Associations During the discussions about the qualification system and proposed changes for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, the method for the calculation of financial support and special distribution by using the number of participants per nation starting in the Alpine and Nordic Championships has been raised by a number of National Ski Associations. They have informed FIS that this system has encouraged them to send athletes to participate who are not at the appropriate performance level. The system for the calculation of financial support to the National Ski Associations was devised during the times when the Local Organising Committee was not required to cover the costs of accommodation for the qualified athletes. Therefore the FIS financial support was effectively to assist the National Ski Association pay the costs of their team's participation at the Championships. After the level of income for the LOC generated by the television and marketing rights increased, the obligations were therefore adapted so the LOC had to the cover accommodation for the qualified athletes. Consequently the costs for the National Ski Associations' participation at the FIS Alpine and Nordic World Championships decreased dramatically. In the last few years the number of athletes entered into the FIS Alpine and Nordic World Ski Championships has significantly increased. The consequences have been that the starting fields have become too large and the competitions have been very difficult to organise at the highest technical level and furthermore caused major issues with the broadcast rights holders, since with more participants the races are much longer and do not fit into the available transmission time, including missing out on the post-competition winner presentation. On proposal of the President, the Council decided that the Finance Commission works out a new proposal to present to the Council to study for the calculation of financial support to the National Ski Associations and the system for the number of Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

11 votes at the Congress. The system should take into account the activity of a National Ski Association including the organisation of competitions and participation in the six FIS disciplines on the programme of the Olympic Winter Games. 8.3 FIS Development Programme The FIS Development Programme Working Group met during the FIS Technical Committee Meetings in Zürich on 2 nd October. Training camps have taken place for Alpine Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere and the Nordic training camp in Val di Fiemme for Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. Planning is underway for the winter season camps, which will include a Freestyle Ski and Snowboard camp for the first time and take place in Kreischberg (AUT) immediately after the World Championships. The allocation of training days for the FDP Free Training Day programme have been made during the agreed periods at the Organisers of the FIS World Championships 2015 in Vail Beaver Creek, Falun and Kreischberg. Concerning the allocation of FIS Development Programme National Ski Associations to the different discipline training camp activities, Spain has been added to the list for Cross-Country Skiing camps (on payment, since the NSA has more than 1 vote) and India and Albania were added for Alpine Skiing. The following nations were added for the Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard training camp: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Croatia, Greece, Iran, Iceland, Korea, Morocco, Mongolia, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. Luxembourg is not subject to payment for participation at camps and this has been corrected on the list. The FDP Working Group confirmed the criteria for FDP NSAs concerning participation and payment at training camps. Full member National Ski Associations are invited to participate at training camps, as defined on the overview list. Applications from Associate Members to participate at training camps may be considered under the following circumstances: i) The camps are not oversubscribed ii) Athlete(s) fulfil performance criteria iii) Payment of own costs (travel, accommodation and meals, lift passes) The FIS Development Programme is running in accordance with the budget. Andy Wenger, Head of Services and will handle the financial aspects of the FDP at the FIS Office. The budget and accounts will be adapted to a calendar year in the same way as the FIS accounts. Vilnius (LTU) was appointed to host the Leaders Seminar from 11 th - 13 th September 2015 (provisional dates). The FIS Development Programme Working Group will meet for the next time during the FIS Calendar Conference on Saturday 6 th June in Varna (BUL). Include up to date list (Julia) FIS Solidarity Applications Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

12 The focus of FIS Solidarity activities is on supporting the education of coaches in their own nation through sending an expert to a national or regional group course to educate coaches, or to arrange a coach workshop. On proposal of the FIS Finance Commission, the Council decided to support projects and requests for assistance that conform with the criteria for FIS Solidarity applications from the National Ski Associations of India, Latvia, Norway (for a joint training camp), Portugal and Romania. 8.4 Marc Hodler Foundation The Marc Hodler Foundation had its annual meeting the day before the FIS Council Meeting on 17 th November 2014 in Oberhofen. President of the Marc Hodler Foundation, Janez Kocijancic reported on the activities since the Meetings in Barcelona (SPA). He informed the Council that the Board of Trustees underlined the ethical and moral values of the institution in the name of Marc Hodler. The Board of Trustees received the financial reports from the Treasurer Toni Kägi including the financial assets, which are in line with the agreed benchmarks. During its Meeting the Marc Hodler Foundation Board of Trustees agreed on updated goals of the Foundation in order that the objectives defined in the statutes to undertake initiatives are met. The policy is in line with FIS, whereby there is a stable, sound approach not to overspend, but also not to sit on funds. The purpose behind the Foundation is to have available resources in the event of a crisis, but also to contribute to related fields and support art and culture, humanitarian projects, scientific research and the heritage of the sport. Thereafter, the Council as the Patronage Committee of the Marc Hodler Foundation, approved the report of FIS Vice President and President of the Marc Hodler Foundation Janez Kocijancic, including the updated goals and acknowledged the accounts per 30 th September 2014 and the 2015 budget. 8.5 FIS Travel Service AG The Council acknowledged the report from President Gian Franco Kasper in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of FIS Travel Service, whereby the financial situation of the company is presently satisfactory. The 2014 FIS Congress in Barcelona (SPA) was concluded despite some difficulties with the final payments to the overflow hotel, Princessa Sofia: 1175 participants were registered and accredited, whilst 3205 hotel nights were booked through FIS Travel Service. 410 persons from the following National Ski Associations and groups booked travel for summer training camps in the Southern Hemisphere mainly to Ushuaia (ARG) with very few to Chile: ARG, AUT, CAN, FRA, GER, ITA, JPN, RUS, SVK, SLO, SUI, USA with additional Service Teams Salomon, Rossignol, Team Maze Presently 500 persons have made reservations and many have already travelled for early season training and the FIS Alpine World Cup races in USA and Canada. Furthermore FIS Travel Service financial year for 2013 was closed and intermediary accounts per 30 th June 2014 were submitted to the FIS Council. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

13 9. Marketing, Public Relations and Special Projects At the Council Meeting in Oberhofen, the Council reviewed the partner and advertising contracts and acknowledged the following updates to the agreements since the previous Meetings in Barcelona in spring FIS partners FIS clothing partners adidas signed to 2017/2018 for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined adidas signed to 2017/2018 for Cross-Country (except Tour de Ski) Video walls FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and FIS Freestyle Ski Cross Faber Audiovisuals signed to 2016/2017 Snowmaking Service "Sufag" signed to 2017/2018 Telecommunications Tele Comm Sportservice agreed to 2015/2016 Service Provider course preparation Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard Prinoth agreed to 2015/2016 Snowboard Materials Liski signed to 2014/2015 Data and timing sponsors and service providers of FIS World Cups Data and timing service Cross-Country, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined ST Sportservice/Swiss Timing under negotiation to 2017/2018 Data and timing service FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup Global-Sportservice agreed to 2015/2016 Data and timing service FIS Snowboard World Cup Swiss Timing agreed to 2014/ FIS Marketing AG The Council acknowledged the report submitted by Christian Pirzer, CEO of FIS Marketing AG and the status of various projects since the FIS Council Meetings in June 2014 in Barcelona (SPA). Chairman of FIS Marketing AG and FIS Vice President Janez Kocijancic reported that the 12 th supervisory board meeting of the company took place two weeks earlier. The company is functioning well for Alpine Skiing and the Nordic disciplines and the sponsors are very satisfied with the services. The accounts are better than forecast and profits will be distributed to the shareholders. 9.2 Bring Children to the Snow Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

14 The Council acknowledged the latest update report in regard to the activities of the Bring Children to the Snow Campaign and recognised the significant activity of the National Ski Associations, as well as other stakeholders in winter sports: Bring Children to the Snow - General The summer period has seen substantial progress for the Bring Children to the Snow campaign. Most notable has been the growth in the Southern Hemisphere. Audi continues their support of the campaign. Of the original five actions planned, four have been delivered or are in the process of being executed. One of the major actions - the Audi World Snow Day and FIS SnowKidz Toolkits - has seen great results. Over pieces of equipment have been distributed to Event Organisers. Audi has seen the positive feedback and has decided to add two more initiatives: a dealer communication project and creation of children s hats as giveaways, bringing the total number of projects involved in the partnership to seven. FIS is also in discussions with further partners: International supermarket chain Coop has expressed interest, as have a number of product suppliers. FIS will establish a list of global preferred suppliers to help Organisers connect with the suppliers to produce material for their events. The summer also saw extensive work with National Ski Associations resulting in the creation of two national events, one in Belgium and another in Latvia. The project in Belgium will see a tour with eight stops in major Belgian cities. Latvia will have over 50 schools participating in World Snow Day. In July 2014, FIS launched the first edition of the International Report on Children s Lift Ticket Prices. The report examined lift ticket prices and initiatives for children at over 700 ski resorts. Results revealed 272 resorts with free skiing for children under a certain age and 181 resorts with special ticket initiatives for children (e.g. free tickets on a child s birthday). The findings were released publicly with the data formatted into a search function allowing visitors to the World Snow Day or SnowKidz website to search for children s lift ticket prices at resorts around the world. The function is dynamic, meaning it can be updated at any time. As a result over 70 resorts have contacted FIS to update their data. FIS World Snow Day Case Studies on five of the largest World Snow Day events were published looking closely at the organisation of the event with analysis on areas such as communication before, during and after the event, how many participants attended their events, who the Organiser is e.g. National Ski Association, what partners assisted with events and what actions took place for World Snow Day. It is the hope that the in depth look at the events will provide future and current Organisers with more ideas for their World Snow Day. Both Infront and EBU have expressed interest in creating a longer term agreements than the previous one-year contracts to promote World Snow Day has seen the fastest growth of World Snow Day events to date. Normally World Snow Day has confirmed events by 1st October. This year, 189 events have already been confirmed. FIS SnowKidz The improvement of the FIS SnowKidz system continues to have excellent results. The first events have taken place in the Southern Hemisphere and Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

15 events in Chile and New Zealand were staged with specific focus on children in urban areas. Organisers in New Zealand have already confirmed their participation for 2015 and will also align an action involving free tickets for school children. FIS SnowKidz has also released a series of Case Studies that focus on the top three recipients of the SnowKidz Award. They provide an in-depth look into the organisation of the winning events from the Netherlands, USA and Finland to provide current and future Organisers more ideas for events and also provide National Ski Associations and idea what it takes to win the SnowKidz Award. Currently FIS SnowKidz is on track to have staged 504 events from January 2014 to March Should this be achieved it would be the largest growth for the Bring children to the Snow campaign. FIS SnowKidz has defined one of its goals as participants by the end of dot.ski The application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ) for the top level internet domain name (TLD) for.ski by Starting Dot as a community designation, supported by FIS and the IOC was successful. This decision was then challenged by a rival bidder, which was also the case for.sport and.rugby. The subsequent ruling by the ICANN ombudsman was in favour of Starting Dot. However the appeals process is continuing to the next level and the delay to the start up of the process and allocation of domain names for assignment of the.ski URLs could take up from six months to a further two years. 9.4 FIS Website and Social Media After the first season with the new FIS Website the provider Delta Tre and FIS carried out improvements over the summer months to improve the navigation and content management system. Useful feedback and beta testing was received from National Ski Associations. Since the competition season is just getting underway, there are limited comparable statistics. However the number of visitors in October 2014 compared to 2013 has increased from to Anti-Doping The Council acknowledged the report by Sarah Lewis, Secretary General on behalf of the Chairman of the FIS Doping Panel, Patrick Smith. The focus of the FIS out-ofcompetition is based on an intelligent programme that is encouraged by WADA and not on accumulating high numbers of controls which are not as effective. In the training period between 1 st May and 3 rd October 2014, FIS conducted a total of 187 urine (119 incl EPO), 136 blood and 166 blood passport samples International Doping Cases There are presently no new doping cases to report. The case of Evi Sachenbacher- Stehle, biathlete and former cross-country skier who tested positive for stimulant, methylhexaneamine at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and was sanctioned Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

16 to a two year suspension by the IBU had the suspension reduced to six months by CAS, due to contamination and the minimal degree of fault of the athlete National Doping Cases The Council acknowledged the following national doping cases: Name Nat Disc. Event tested SIMILAE, Tero FIN CC OOC Substance/ Method EPO STANKEVICH, Vadzim BLR CC IC Carphedone Sanction 2 years (starting ) 2 years ( ) The athlete challenged the start of the sanction to the Finnish Sports Arbitration Board and this is under review. Case of Walter Mayer (AUT) The Austrian Anti-Doping Rights-Commission decided to ban Walter Mayer for life for the following reasons: - Between summer 2008 and February 2009 he created a doping plan for the club masters skier Hermine Egger, provided the necessary Prohibited Substances and the necessary equipment and he organised and supervised the administration of Hermine Egger - Between December 2005 and August 2008 he gave Prohibited Substances to no longer accurately ascertainable athletes WADA and FIS Anti-Doping Rules Meetings of the WADA Executive Board took place in mid-september in Lausanne and in Paris on 14 th and 15 th November that also included the Foundation Board, both of which were attended by FIS President Gian Franco Kasper. The new World Anti-Doping Code was adopted at the World Anti-Doping Conference in 2013 and will come into force on 1 st January The FIS Anti- Doping Rules 2015 have been compiled using the WADA Model Rules and were approved by WADA on 13 th November The Code amendments provide for longer periods of Ineligibility for real cheats, and more flexibility in sanctioning in other specific circumstances - Consideration of the Principles of Proportionality and Human Rights - The Code amendments support the increasing importance of investigations and use of intelligence in the fight against doping - Amendments to the Code have been included to better reach Athlete Support Personnel who are involved in doping - The Code amendments place additional emphasis on the concepts of smart test distribution planning, and smart menus for Sample analysis - The Code amendments attempt to be both more clear and fair in balance the interests of International Federations and national Anti-Doping Organisations - Making the Code clearer and shorter. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

17 At its Meeting in Oberhofen the Council adopted the FIS Anti-Doping Rules and Procedural Guidelines The Council welcomed the participation of WADA with an Outreach Education at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun (SWE) to assist with communicating and explaining anti-doping rules and procedures, especially to young athletes. 11. Appointment of Jury Members The Council approved a number of new appointments (in bold type) for the FIS World Championships and other major events submitted by the Technical Committees. The following list also includes appointments made previously: 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, Vail/Beaver Creek (USA) Technical Delegate Ladies Jury Ladies Technical Delegate Men Jury Men Medical Supervisor Stefanie Wolf, GER Simon Wi Rutene, NZL Mirko Leonini, SUI Arno Heikkala, FIN Stefano Pirola, CHI Doug Campbell, CAN Michael Huber, AUT Markus Malsiner, ITA Hans Spring, SUI 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Falun (SWE) Cross-Country Technical Delegate TD Assistant Jury Members Robert Peets, EST Jussi Prykäri, FIN Enzo Macor, ITA (replacing Alan Serrano, USA) Riikka Rakic, SUI Ski Jumping Technical Delegate TD Assistant Chief Distance Measurer Judges Sandro Pertile, ITA Thomas Hasslberger, GER Matthias Kindler, GER Daniel Lind, SWE Vaclav Kral, CZE Tom Nyman, FIN Mirko Hünefeld, GER Jarle Solbu, NOR Vadim Lisovskiy, RUS Nordic Combined Technical Delegate Branko Simic, SLO Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

18 TD Assistant Medical Supervisor Thomas Abratis, GER Stanislaw Szymanik, POL 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships, Kreischberg (AUT) Snowboard HP/SBS Technical Delegate Parallel Technical Delegate MO/AE Technical Delegate SBX/SX Technical Delegate FS and SB HP TD FS and SB Slopestyle and Big Air Video Control Referee 1 Referee 2 Referee 3 Referee 4 Head Judge Assistant Head Judge Scoring Judges Christoph Behounek, GER Philip Richard, SUI Ted Martin, USA Matevz Stanovnik, SLO Roman Arnold, SUI Peter Krogoll, GER Andreas Görlich, GER Gary Wright, USA Iztok Kvas, SLO Lukas Ligocki, POL Ales Silec, SLO (replacing Paul Rak, CAN) Ola Sundekvist, SWE Ryo Hashimoto, JPN Matt Jennings, USA Christian Beutler, SUI Oliver Heinrich, AUT Klara Suchanova, CZE Marcello Centurione, CAN Freestyle Skiing Head Judge HP/SS Scoring Judges Head Judge MO/AE Scoring Judges Medical Supervisor Charly Royer, FRA Ole-Kristian Strom, NOR Steele Spence, USA Arnaud Cottet, SUI Urh Bulc, SLO Rob Dunlop, CAN Tina Sundekvist, JPN Terry Campbell, CAN Natalia Sherstneva, BLR Danielle de Kluijver, NED Alberto Orsatti, ITA Alexandra Bellevile, USA Magnus Ferry, SWE (Moguls only) Anatoly Yakheev, RUS (Moguls only) Hubert Hörterer, GER 2015 FIS Telemark and Junior World Championships, Steamboat Springs (USA) Technical Delegate Urban Simcic, SLO 2015 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships, Hafjell (NOR) Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

19 Technical Delegate Men Technical Delegate Ladies Medical Supervisor Magnus Larsson, SWE Josef Zingerle, ITA Marie-Philipp Rousseux-Blanchi, FRA 2015 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and U 23 CC WSC, Almaty (KAZ) Cross-Country Technical Delegate TD Assistant Jury Member Matt Pauli, USA Georgy Kadykov, RUS Zora Honzlova, CZE Ski Jumping Technical Delegate TD Assistant Chief Distance Measurer Judges Ivo Gregor, CZE Werner Rathmayr, AUT Yuri Kalinin, RUS Nasym Nassyrov, KAZ Claudia Denifl, AUT Jiri Parma, CZE Satho Mitsugu, JPN Dag Frode Aas, NOR Nordic Combined Technical Delegate TD Assistant Medical Supervisor Robert Krautgartner, AUT Mark Rolseth, CAN Jenny Shute, GBR 2015 FIS Snowboard Junior World Championships, Yabuli (CHN) Technical Delegate Head Judge Scoring Judges Medical Supervisor Tim O Brien, CAN Helmut Lexer, AUT Ola Sundekvist, SWE Ryo Hashimoto, JPN Connor Manning, USA Woo-Sik Kim, KOR Steve Brown, AUS Ales Silec, SLO Fan Chunlai, CHN Wouter van den Broecke, BEL 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival, Vorarlberg/Liechtenstein (AUT/LIE) Cross-Country Technical Delegate TD Assistant Josef Gabriel, CZE Bruno Heinzer, SUI Ski Jumping Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

20 Technical Delegate TD Assistant Judges Hubert Mathis, SUI Christian Kathol, AUT Marion Vettori, AUT Stefan Wolf, AUT Christian Keller, GER Patric Maissen, SUI Rico Parpan, SUI Nordic Combined Technical Delegate TD Assistant Andrea Roggia, ITA Michael Flaschenberger, AUT Alpine Technical Delegate Ladies Technical Delegate Men Fred Comte (FRA) Carlo Lötscher, SUI Snowboard Technical Delegate Michael Neuenschwander, SUI 2015 Winter Universiade Granada (SPA) Alpine Technical Delegate Ladies Technical Delegate Men Marco Cozzi, ITA Ernesto Cingolani, ARG Freestyle Skiing Technical Delegate Head Judge Moguls Scoring Judges Head Jude Halfpipe/Slopestyle Scoring Judges Snowboard Technical Delegate Matthew Wade, USA Stéphane Cotte, FRA Pipsa Pohjavirta, FIN Bruno Berard, FRA Josep M. Puig Crisol, SPA Giovanni Leoni, SUI Stian Eriksen, NOR Martin Carr, GBR Magnus Ferry, SWE Stian Erikson, NOR Arnaud Cottet, SUI (replacing Marco Zumoberhaus, SUI) Charly Royer, FRA Martin Carr, GBR Urh Bulc, SLO Lenka Dvorokova, CZE Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

21 Technical Delegate Head Judge Scoring Judges Fredrik Bergström, SWE (replacing Flynn Seddon, CAN Stefan Munz, GER Tobias Gramsch, GER Ivan Ivanov, BUL Ales Silec, SLO Stefan Williner, SUI Klara Suchanova, CZE Oliver Heinrich, AUT 2015 Nordic Winter Universiade Strbske Pleso/Osrblie (SVK) Cross-Country Skiing Technical Delegate TD Assistant Jakub Vodrazka, CZE Emil Hecico, ROU Ski Jumping Technical Delegate TD Assistant Judges Chief Distance Measurer Ueli Forrer, SUI Renata Nadarkiewicz, POL Emil Babis, SVK Fritz Pollhammer, AUT Jan Baier, CZE Franz Rappenglück, GER Ryszard Gunka, POL Gert Aigmüller, AUT Nordic Combined Technical Delegate TD Assistant Jyri Pelkanen, FIN Stanislav Slavik, CZE 2015 FIS Speed Skiing World Championships, Grandvalira/Pas de la Casa (AND) Technical Delegate Valter Druetti, ITA 2015 FIS Rollerski World Championships, Val di Fiemme (ITA) Technical Delegate TD Assistant Guy Magand, FRA Georg Zipfel, GER 2015 FIS Grass Ski World Championships, Tambre (ITA) Technical Delegate Dieter Posch, AUT 2015 FIS Grass Ski Junior World Championships, Stitna nad Vlari (CZE) Technical Delegate Sandor Ladislav, SVK 2016 Ski Flying World Championshps 2016 Kulm/Bad Mitterndorf (AUT) Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

22 Ski Jumping Technical Delegate TD Assistant Chief Distance Measurer Judges Medical Supervisor Eero Kuusinen, FIN Thomas Klauser, GER Octavian Munteanu, ROU AUT, FRA, GER, NOR, POL, SUI Inggard Lereim, NOR 2016 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and U 23 CC WSC, Rasnov (ROU) Cross-Country Skiing Technical Delegate TD-Assistant Jury Member Bruno Heinzer, SUI Zofia Kielpinska, POL Jakub Tejchman, CZE 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games Lillehammer (NOR) Cross-Country Skiing Technical Delegate TD Assistant Emil Hecico, ROU Mathias Berglund, SWE Alpine Technical Delegate Ladies Technical Delegate Men Jury Jill Firstbrook, USA Josef Zingerle, ITA Marc Berry, GBR Jean-Louis Galinier, FRA Claes Johansson, SWE Ski Jumping Technical Delegate TD Assistant Chief Distance Measurer Judges Jani Hyvärinen, FIN Michael Lais, GER Peter Chudy, SVK Espelid Kjersti Haugen, NOR Jan Baier, CZE Jörg Schmieder, GER Andrzej Galica, POL Evgen Jesenko, SLO Nordic Combined Technical Delegate TD Assistant Medical Supervisor Andrea Roggia, ITA Nurmela Tapio, FIN Hubert Hörterer, GER Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

23 Freestyle Skiing Head judge Scoring Judges Peter Arneson, USA Oliver Usterud, NOR Philippe Belanger, CAN Adam Frisell, SWE Ruslan Akhtyamov, RUS Ivan Ivanov, BUL Snowboard Headjudge Scoring Judges Alex Silec, SLO Kevin Higgins, CAN Stefan Munz, GER Klara Suchanova, CZE Ruslan Akhtyamov, RUS Ivan Ivanov, BUL Adam Frisell, SWE Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard Technical Delegate Cross Events TD Assistant Cross Events Technical Delegate Pipe and Slope TD Assistant Pipe and Slope Jury Jim Sidorchuck, CAN Werner Steiner, AUT Tino Mincev, BUL Matevz Stanovnik, SLO Janne Kuusela, FIN 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Lahti (FIN) Cross-Country Skiing Technical Delegate TD Assistant Uros Ponikvar, SLO Alan Serrano, USA 2018 Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang (KOR) Cross-Country Skiing Technical Delegate Jussi Prykäri, FIN 11.1 Appointment of Key Officials The Council approved the following new proposals by the Lillehammer 2016 Youth OIympic Games Organising Committee for their key technical officials. No other changes or new officials were submitted since Barcelona 2014: 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games, Lillehammer (NOR) Alpine Skiing Chief of Competition Chief Race Secretary Rolle Johanson Bjorn Hettervik Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November

24 Chief of Course Chief of Course equipment Coordinator Start & Finish referee, support Omega Sven Ullrich Osten Tande Tor Hauan 12. FIS World Cup Calendars 2014/2015 to 2018/2019 On proposal of the respective Technical Committees concerned, the Council confirmed minor modifications to the FIS World Cup Calendars 2014/2015 that are published on the following pages, and approved the latest versions of the draft calendars through to 2018/19. Of these changes, the most notable is the replacement of the men s downhill in Bormio (ITA) on 27th December 2014 with nearby Santa Caterina for one year only. The Council agree that instead of losing this event at a very important period of the year for the promotion of skiing, it will be possible to carry out on the course used for the ladies events at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2005, as a one year exception. Short Summary FIS Council Meeting, Oberhofen (SUI), November