Ski President Addresses IOC Concerns, Slams FIFA, Norway

(ATR) International Ski Federation president Gian Franco Kasper was candid and comical, offering numerous quips while addressing Olympic topics and issues to the world’s ski media in Sölden, Austria.

Kasper’s remarks came at the annual Forum Alpinum ahead of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup tour opening its season at the Austrian resort this weekend.

Eurosport’s John Clark asked Kasper about how the Sochi Olympic Games may have affected eight candidates to forego bidding for the 2022 Winter Games.

"From a sports point of view, the Russians did an excellent job, there’s no doubt," Kasper said. "The luxury and gigantism is a different story. A lot of cities and countries feel they can no longer afford the Olympics after this $51 billion price tag in Sochi. This is not a good sign."

Kasper joked, "Do you really need Buckingham Palace as your start for bobsled?," sending the audience into laughter.

Regarding Norwegian politicians refusing to provide financial guarantees for Oslo 2022 and thus killing the bid, Kasper told Around the Rings, "I was very surprised, of course. It was the consequence of Sochi with the extremely costly Games and the Norwegian political situation."

"To be very honest, Norway should not believe that they are the leaders of the world and that the world should do what Norway wants," the ski boss said.

"You are a great country. You have a lot of good things, but you are only 5 million people," he said.

Addressing the situation that the IOC has found itself in with only two candidate cities remaining for 2022, Kasper said, "I don’t think it’s a problem for the IOC, but of course we would like to have as many candidates as possible.

"From what I’m hearing from NOCs and national federations, we will most likely have a big number of candidates for 2026.

"In principle for me, the philosophy is we should not adapt a city or country to the Olympic Games. We should adapt the Olympics to the city organizing the Games.

"We are changing," Kasper said about the future of the IOC. "We have an IOC Session in December where we will have lots of changes, particularly with the bidding process and the gigantism of the Games.

"Of course we have concerns with this crisis at the moment, but I think the two candidates that we have can put on an excellent show," Kasper said of Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Competition in Sölden begins Saturday morning as the ladies race the first of two giant slalom runs on the Rettenbach Glacier, while the men are in action Sunday.

U.S. Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin will be the first skier on course to start the new season.

FIFA World Cup Move?

Addressing persistent rumors that FIFA may push back the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to February, conflicting with the Winter Olympics, Kasper once again joked to convey his message.

"It is surprising to me it happened only two years ago that FIFA realized it might be warm in the summertime in Qatar," Kasper said.

"FIFA, please stay out of our winter months," the FIS boss urged to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. "Stay in Qatar – if you are sweating or not, that’s not our problem."

Kasper ended with one final quip sending the room of journalists, national ski association members, event organizers and fellow FIS staff into hysterics.

"I can guarantee you one thing: we will not be skiing in Qatar in the month of July," Kasper said.

Maze, Shiffrin Ink Watch Sponsorships

Sochi double Olympic gold medalist Tina Maze and Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin have new sponsor partnerships.

Maze of Slovenia becomes the new global brand ambassadress for Alpina Watches, an independent, family-owned watchmaking manufacture based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Founded in 1883, Alpina is recognized for inventing the concept of the sport watch, with the birth of its legendary Alpina 4 in 1938.

Longines, the official timekeeper of FIS races, announced that the 19-year-old U.S. skier Shiffrin is now an ambassadress of the brand.

Shiffrin joins Norwegian racer Aksel Lund Svindal, who tore his Achilles this week in Sölden and will miss a considerable amount of the season, as a representative of the prestigious Swiss brand.

Additionally, Longines has extended its partnership with FIS across all disciplines through 2022.

AIJS Award to Austrian Fenninger

Austrian ski racer Anna Fenninger, 25, was chosen as the "Skieur d’Or" recipient for the 2013-14 season by members of the International Association of Ski Journalists (AIJS).

The award is presented annually in Soelden to a skier who not only excels in competition, but also serves as an ambassador promoting the sport.

Fenninger won gold in super-G and silver in giant slalom at February’s Olympics in Sochi. The popular Austrian racer also captured her first overall World Cup title last season.

A total of 16 racers received votes including American Mikaela Shiffrin and Austrian Marcel Hirscher, who tied for second place in this year’s election.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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