Four months after his election, the new president of the International Ski Federation (FIS), the Swede John Eliasch (photo above), led his first extraordinary congress last weekend. Two subjects were on the agenda: the approval of the new statutes of the body, and a possible change of name of the FIS. They were both put to a vote by delegates. The first was a formality, since 106 voters against 3 (i.e. 97% of the votes), adopted the updated statutes. They provide in particular for a limitation of the duration and number of mandates of the members of the Council and the president of the FIS, a better gender balance on the Council, and finally a policy more focused on sustainability. On the other hand, the change of name of the FIS did not obtain the number of votes required by the texts. The body proposed to its members to abandon the name International Ski Federation, replacing it with the choice of International Ski and Snowboard Federation, or International Snow Sports Federation. In the first round of voting, the delegates voted in favor of the first option, by 57 votes against 51. But the change of name of the FIS did not pass the second round, where a majority of both was required. third party. The addition of the name snowboard to the official name was approved by 66 votes to 49, but without obtaining two thirds of the votes (57%). Reaction from John Eliasch: “ Today, members chose the name that they believe best represents FIS. But an important lesson is that our stakeholders want us to do a better job of including all disciplines in our daily communication and promotion of FIS“. The next congress of the body will take place in spring 2022 in Vilamoura, Portugal.
