Bitter Battle for Control of International Ski & Snowboard Federation Fought Out Today
8th June 2026
Last modified on June 11th, 2026
At stake is the very future of the body that governs elite snowsports. On Thursday a new President is due to be elected in a contest that has split FIS down the middle. Some fear the organisation may even break up. UPDATED
Today at the FIS Congress in Belgrade in Serbia 80 nations will decide who becomes president.
The current president is the Swedish-British billionaire and CEO of ski manufacturer Head, Joahn Eliasch.
He is seeking a third term, but the majority of the larger ski nations are lined up against him.
Neither Great Britain or Sweden would support his nomination so he has had to take Georgian citizenship in order to be backed by a national ski federation to be able to enter the contest.
There are accusations of financial mismanagement, anti-democratic practices and organisational irregularities.
Some see him as acting in a dictatorial way with little dialogue and a strategy of confrontation, rather than compromise.
Others regard him as taking on vested interests to turn the organisation around for the modern world.
The assets of FIS are reported to have shrunk from 130m CHF 43m CHF.
These figures have never been officially confirmed or denied.
Last week the CEO of the organisation, Urs Lehmann, resigned citing concern over the organisations finance.
There is undoubtedly partly a political motive to the move, but there are real concerns about the stability of the finances of the organisation.
We reported on the resignation earlier:
Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the USA, Canada, France and Norway have positioned themselves against Eliasch.
They are likely to support the election of Alexander Ospelt from Liechtenstein.
Initially there were five candidates in the contest:
- Johan Eliasch (GEO)
- Anna Harboe Falkenberg (DEN)
- Victoria Gosling (GBR)
- Alexander Ospelt (LIE)
- Dexter Paine (USA)
Anna Harboe Falkenberg, Dexter Paine and Victoria Gosling all withdrew in the days leading up to congress.
It leaves a two-horse race today between Johan Eliasch and Alexander Ospelt, a lawyer from Lichtenstein.
He is a former head of his country’s ski federation and member of council.
Johan Eliasch has been speaking to the Associated Press news agency.
“Out of 80 voting nations there are about 10 that feel differently,” he said.
“We had a lot of cash in the bank, we invested that.
“We put the money to work”.
His platform rests on:
- Internal centralisation of control over commercial rights
- Purchase of the Freeride World Tour
- Digital development
- Project for the FIS Games
The support of the smaller federations is a key factor for Eliasch.
Alexander Ospelt has promised to resort normal relations within FIS and heal divisions.
He speaks of ‘building bridges’ between large and small associations, athletes, sponsors, the media and fans.
He calls for FIS to be ‘open and transparent’.
If Eliasch wins, FIS will be deeply divided with the major ski nations at loggerheads with his vision.
Some say they may leave the organisation and set up a new body to run elite snowsport competition.
If Osplet wins, he has a massive re-building job to do.
Whatever the outcome today the organisation is and will remain deeply divided.
Like all elections it will be down to numbers, and a candidate needs an absolute majority to win the election.
Skiing nations such as Switzerland have three votes, while many smaller nations only have one.
But with a total of 80 federations entitled to vote, the casting of their ballots could be decisive.
The smaller nations see Eliasch as championing their cause and giving them a voice.
The larger ones have completely lost confidence in him.
“Johan Eliasch has lost the trust of many national associations. The financial situation of the FIS is worrying. Governance, transparency and communication are so deficient that the overall situation is unacceptable for more and more associations,” said CEO of Swiss Ski, Diego Züger, to the Swiss newspaper, Blick.
Ski athletes including Marco Odermatt and Mikaela Shiffrin have voiced concerns about how FIS has been run under Eliasch.
“We have to say that not much has gone forward in recent years. I have also learned from insiders that the FIS has developed anything but positively in terms of finances. And that’s why there’s not much left but to make a change at the top of the FIS,” said overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt.
“Many of us athletes feel that the FIS and the current leadership have shown a significant lack of transparency,” said Mikaela Shiffrin.
It is all a long way from how FIS used to be run.
Eliasch took over from Gian Franco Kasper who was president of FIS for 23 years from 1998 to 2021.
Some said that Kasper was in office for too long, but many now look back and miss the stability he offered.
Coverage Details for Thursday 11th June, 09:00 CEST
The 57th FIS Congress opens the following morning, with the full session available to watch live from 09:00 CEST.
FIS Council members and delegates from FIS Member Associations from across the world will gather to take key decisions shaping the future of international skiing and snowboarding, including elections for the office of the FIS President and of 18 members of the FIS Council.
FIS President press conference: 11 June, around 30 minutes after the end of the General Assembly
Following the General Assembly, the newly elected FIS President will hold a press conference, streamed live on FIS TV.
It will be the first opportunity for snow sports fans and the wider industry to hear directly from the incoming leadership.
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