Together with its Austrian, Croatian and Swiss colleagues, the German Ski Association has withdrawn the joint complaint against FIS President Johan Eliasch before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas.
"The withdrawal of the lawsuit was not because our legal opinion has changed, but because we had to recognize that the current procedure overlays the necessary coordination processes and partially blocks," said DSV board member Stefan Schwarzbach at the request of the German Press Agency (dpa).
The four national associations had moved after the controversial re-election of the President of the World Ski Federation last year in front of the Cas. The British-Swedish businessman had no opponent at the FIS Congress in Milan in May 2022. Eliasch received 100 percent of the votes cast, but not all delegates had voted. In the election, there was only the possibility to vote for Eliasch or to abstain – a vote with "no" was not possible. Eliasch, billionaire owner of the ski manufacturer Head, had been confirmed there with 70 votes in favor for another four years in his office. The DSV later described this as a "farce".
Now, as part of the Alpine and Nordic World Championships in February, talks between the national associations and members of the FIS Council are said to have taken place again. It was found that there was still a major communication and information deficit.
"There is no question that the development of skiing suffers as a result. We therefore followed the proposal from the Council and approached the Fis again and proposed a round table," said Schwarzbach. The Fis has now accepted this proposal.