Main Decisions of the FIS Council at its Spring Meeting in Portoroz (SLO)

Oberhofen, May 29th, 2007 – At its Spring Meeting held in Portoroz (SLO) on Monday 28th May, the FIS Council has made the following important decisions:

Decisions directly related to the sport organization

Confirmation of details of FIS World Championships as follows:
Dates and program for the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Val d'Isère as from 3rd to 15th February. For program, see attached PDF.
Dates and program for the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec (CZE) as from 18th Feb to 1st March. For program, see attached PDF.
Dates of the 2009 FIS Snowboard World Championships in Gangwon Province (KOR) as from 14th to 25th January.
Dates of the 2009 FIS Freestyle World Championships in Inawashiro (JPN) as from 2nd to 8th March, as previously confirmed.
Host of the FIS Freestyle Junior World Ski Championships 2008 as Airolo (SUI). Sites for the other disciplines have already been confirmed for 2008: Sczcyrk (POL) for the Nordic events, Jaca/Formigal (SPA) for the Alpine events and Khanty-Mansiysk (RUS) for Snowboard.
Host of the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships 2010 as Hinterzarten (GER).
Extension of the deadline for applications as Candidates for the 2013 FIS Snowboard World Championships until 1st October 2007.

Approval of the 2007/2008 FIS World Cup calendars and a number of proposals by the FIS Technical Committees, in particular the following:

Alpine Skiing
Change of the starting order for the downhill, super-G and super combined (1st run, i.e. downhill or super-G) events as follows: The best fifteen present competitors (quota adjusted) of the corresponding event WCSL are drawn between starting numbers 16 to 22 (for WCSL 1 to 7) and 8 to 15 (for WCSL 8 to 15). The remaining athletes up to WCSL 30 are drawn within the start numbers 1 to 7 and 23 to 30.

Cross-Country
Staging of the World Cup Final as a three-day competition series including a prologue/sprint and two distance races. The Final weekend will award 200 overall World Cup points and total prize money of CHF 120'000 (per gender).

Ski Jumping
Increased importance of the qualification as all jumpers, except the 10 best present in the current WCJ standing, must participate in the qualification round.

Nordic Combined
Formalization of the ‘sprint compact' format in the International Competition Rules after successful delivery at the World Cup level in 2007.

Freestyle Skiing
Recommendation to use ‘back protectors' at all Freestyle events.

Establishment of a so-called ‘Snow Cross Cooperation' coordination group consisting of FIS experts including the discipline managers for Freestyle (Joe Fitzgerald), Snowboard (Marcel Looze) and Alpine (Janez Flere) to collaborate on questions that arise across the disciplines especially related to ski cross and snowboard cross.

Snowboard
Setting the age limit for participation in international slopestyle competitions at 13 (the riders must have reached their 13th birthday before the end of the calendar year in question).

NOTE: More details on discipline-specific decisions will follow shortly.

Approval of designation of Sella Nevea (ITA), located near Tarvisio, as an official “FIS Training Center.” The resort is constructing a new course that will be reserved exclusively for training in all Alpine Skiing events with a dedicated lift, top-to-bottom snow-making, safety material, timing and technical support. The facility will be available to all National Ski Associations at a special daily price. There will also be training opportunities for Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Jumping.
Appointment of remaining key jury members and technical officials for the 2008 and 2009 FIS World Championships and FIS Junior World Championships.
Increase of the daily reimbursement amount for Technical Delegates and Judges from CHF 80 to CHF 100 per travel day and day of assignment for all levels of competition in all FIS disciplines.

Financial and administrative decisions

Approval of new regulations for change of license, subject to approval by FIS Congress in 2008. Any new applications will be considered on the basis of the new rules, including the requirement that the athlete must have had his/her principal legal and effective place of residence in the new country for a minimum of two (2) years immediately prior to the date of the request to change registration to the new country/National Ski Association.
Establishment of a working group together with the ski industry, chaired by FIS President Gian Franco Kasper, to address several issues including some raised by the ski industry related to the practical questions such as the logistics and costs of ski racing, as well as ways to appeal to a younger generation and promotion of the sport.
Approval of requests from FIS Solidarity for financial support of special projects or activities that are not part of the regular day-to-day work of a National Ski Association in Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Slovakia.
Approval of the budget for the FIS Aid & Promotion Program for the period 1st May 2007 – 30th April 2008 of CHF 1,485,000 that is financed by the income generated from the registration fees of candidates for the FIS World Championships

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Portoroz decisions: Alpine Skiing

The FIS Alpine Committee, under guidance of Toni Sailer (AUT), had a full agenda. Of special focus was the determination of a new start order for the speed events (downhill, super-G and super combined). This was approved by the FIS Council as a draw: The best fifteen present competitors of the event WCSL are drawn between starting numbers 16 to 22 (for WCSL 1 to 7) and 8 to 15 (for WCSL 8 to 15). The remaining athletes up to WCSL 30 are drawn within the start numbers 1 to 7 and 23 to 30.

Other important topics included the guidelines for calendar planning. In the future, the FIS World Cup calendars will include approximately 42 competitions during years without title events and 36 in years with title events, divided in a balanced manner across the five individual events and the nations’ team event. For the confirmed 2007/2008 calendar prepared on the basis of the new procedure, please view here for the ladies and for men.

Further discussions were held to approve a trial for delayed gates to be conducted during the Southern hemisphere winter. The various Intercontinental Cups reported on the successful introduction of the super combined across the board. Within European Cup, specific concern was raised regarding the difficulty to provide racing and training opportunities for speed events, especially downhill. At the same time, the European Cup schedule for 2007/08 will after again include indoor events for both the ladies and men after a one-year break. For complete calendars please see here for the ladies and men.

The new Sub-committee for Alpine Youth and Children’s Issues chaired by Ken Read (CAN), who is also Chairman of the coordination group for all discipline sub-committees for Youth and Children’s Issues held its first meeting, launching a dialogue with the SRS on equipment issues and reporting on a number of positive initiatives already underway.

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Portoroz decisions: Nordic Combined

Following the spring meeting of the Nordic Combined Executive Board in Prague on 15th April, a number of proposals were submitted through the Funnel System. After consideration by the FIS Nordic Combined Committee under Chairman Harald Aarhus (NOR) in Portoroz, a few were submitted to the FIS Council for approval.

Besides the World Cup and Summer Grand Prix calendars, the amendments approved by the FIS Council included the formalization of the ‘sprint compact' format in the International Competition Rules after two successful events were held at the World Cup level last season. This competition format enables combining both disciplines (Ski Jumping and Cross-Country) within a short period of time. Only the starting time for the Jumping competition is set beforehand and a break of 25 minutes between the two parts is recommended. The staging of this format requires sufficient organisational preparedness and close proximity of both competition sites.

Specifications were also approved to the rules for the team sprint, including that half of the points won in a team events may be counted in the overall World Cup points of an individual athlete. In the future, the team sprint will be held only with one jump but with the current calculation system (30 points per minute). The Committee also specified the procedure for any potential change of events during title competitions, solidified the role and tasks of the equipment controller in the World Cup Rules, and extended the green phase in the starting light system from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.

With the first FIS World Championships in ladies’ Ski Jumping just a season away (Liberec 2009) and the junior championships in ladies Ski Jumping well established, the first 'open' Nordic Combined competitions will be held in Klingenthal (GER) as part of the ‘Schüler’ Summer Grand Prix on 24th August 2007.

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Portoroz decisions: Ski Jumping

The FIS Jumping Committee, headed by Jouko Törmänen (FIN), held its spring meeting in Portoroz. The four Sub-Committees for Ski Jumping had already held their traditional spring meetings in Zurich (SUI) on 13th-14th April, and their proposals were submitted through the so-called Funnel System during which the National Ski Associations have a chance to provide their comments.

Following consideration of the NSA feedback by the Jumping Committee, several proposals were forwarded to the Council. The most important Council decisions included the approval of the World Cup calendar 2007/2008 (see here) as well as of the increased importance of the qualification as all jumpers, except the 10 best present in the current WCJ standing, will have to participate in the qualification round. At the same time, the quotas were reduced so that the very maximum number of participants by nation is limited to seven (instead of eight). Fewer Continental Cup athletes can be included, and the World Cup leader no longer holds a personal spot outside the national quota. Additional changes approved include specifications to the judging criteria (especially increased penalty for falls), introduction of a minimum age limit (18) for Ski Flying fore jumpers and use of height rather than BMI (Body Mass Index) table in the youth category for determining the maximum ski length. Amendments to the roles of the various FIS officials on-site will also help to clarify their roles and that of the Technical Delegate and especially the Assistant TD who will be specifically trained to help with venue preparations.

Meeting for the first time, the Sub-Committee for Ski Jumping Youth and Children’s Issues conducted a consultative session inviting the National Ski Associations to submit concerns and proposals to be discussed in the next meeting and passed on to the Jumping Committee.

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Portoroz decisions: Cross-Country Skiing

Under the leadership of Chairman Vegard Ulvang (NOR), the FIS Cross-Country Committee spent time on finalizing the calendar (view it here) for the upcoming season and reviewing rules for both the World Cup as well as the FIS Tour de Ski. As part of next season’s schedule, it decided to introduce a three-day competition series as an end of the season highlight, the so-called ‘FIS World Cup Final’.

The Final will start with a prologue in the classical style, continue with another distance race and culminate in a handicap start over 10km / 15 km in the free technique. Overall World Cup points will be awarded only after the last competition with the factor of two which means that the winner will get 200 points for the competition weekend. The total prize money (both genders) for the Finals weekend will be CHF 240’000.

The Committee also appointed Karl-Heinz Lickert (GER) as its Vice Chairman. Moreover, it decided to continue the trials for changing skis in the middle of the race, this time in a mass start event as well. Finally, to reduce accidents, it was decided that the athlete support staff must stand in their place in the feeding zone rather than running along with the athletes.

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Portoroz decisions: Snowboard

The FIS Snowboard Committee headed by Bill Slattery (USA) was able to finalize a calendar that will see the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup visit all five continents during a season extending from late August 2007 to mid-March 2008 (for full details click here). Besides the meetings of the various Working Groups and the Snowboard Coordination Group, the Snowboard Task Force considered various ways to further develop the sport especially through innovative marketing and communication activities. Examples of such new ideas considered include fewer, but bigger events especially on the freestyle side, increase TV exposure and grow visibility through the use of the new media.

The approval by the FIS Council to set the minimum age limit for participation in international slopestyle and half-pipe competitions at 13 (the riders must have reached their 13th birthday before the end of the calendar year in question) was an important step to ensure the competitiveness of the FIS Snowboard programs. Moreover, the Council approved the proposal of the Advertising Matters Committee that the top of snowboards may carry the commercial marking of the effective producer, as well as up to five other sponsors within a total size of 250 cm2. This will keep the door open for additional sponsorship opportunities for the riders and their teams.

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Portoroz decisions: Freestyle Skiing

The FIS Freestyle Committee, under the leadership of Chris Robinson (CAN), focused on the development of the equipment rules and course specifications. As approved by the Council, back protectors are now recommended to be used in all Freestyle events. Rules for the ski cross suit were also established. The Committee defined rules to enable the staging of a team aerials event at the 2009 Winter Universiade in Harbin (CHN). Moreover, refinements in the course specifications were established for air bumps in moguls. The aim was to standardize their size and location on the course. At the same time, the Committee defined rules for standardization of take-off shapes in aerials. Finally, several precisions were made to the rules for ski cross that will allow the future development of the event especially in light of its acceptance to the Olympic Winter Games in 2010. For example, rules regarding allowed vs. forbidden contact were further specified.

A so-called ‘Snow Cross Cooperation' coordination group consisting of FIS experts including the discipline managers for Freestyle (Joe Fitzgerald), Snowboard (Marcel Looze) and Alpine (Janez Flere) was also established. This group will collaborate on questions that arise across the disciplines especially related to ski cross and snowboard cross where each of the disciplines can support the development with different areas of expertise..