A few weeks before the start of the 2026/27 winter season, the FIS Council met in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the federation’s Autumn Meetings. The session covered various sporting matters, but one of the main focuses was the organization’s financial situation and the measures its new leadership intends to implement to restore the financial sustainability of the international snow sports federation.
During the FIS Summit held earlier in the week, the National Ski Associations received a detailed report on the organization’s finances. The document, presented by President Alexander Ospelt, Secretary General Urs Lehmann, Treasurer Jean-Philippe Rochat and Martti Uusitalo, a member of the Finance Committee and the Council’s Financial Review Working Group, outlined both the financial developments of recent years and the measures planned to reduce costs and generate new sources of revenue.
FIS seeks to stabilize its financial situation
The figures presented during the Summit show that FIS remains solvent and debt-free, although they also reflect a significant deterioration in the federation’s equity over recent years. Between 2021 and 2025, FIS’s net assets fell from CHF 81 million to CHF 43 million, a 47% decrease. For the new administration, this trajectory is not sustainable and requires structural changes in the organization’s financial management.
The Council approved the financial and structural measures proposed to address the situation, with a plan that includes a significant reduction in costs and the pursuit of additional revenue. President Alexander Ospelt said that the goal is to restore financial discipline and protect the long-term sustainability of FIS and the global snow sports ecosystem. The measures are being developed and implemented together with national federations and other partners of the organization.
Major events, Nordic Combined and new venues
In Geneva, the Council also resumed discussions about the future of major FIS events. The federation had proposed exploring the addition of an extra World Championship during non-Olympic even years, starting in 2032. The Council also considered the possibility of staging a pilot edition in 2028, but a feasibility study prepared by an external consultant warned that a delayed market launch could affect the quality of the event’s delivery and limit its potential to generate value. As a result, the Council decided not to include the event in the 2027/28 calendar, while FIS remains open to developing a major World Championship from 2032 onward.
Nordic Combined also featured prominently in the meeting after the Council reaffirmed its support for the discipline following its exclusion from the Winter Olympic Games. A workshop involving national federations, organizers and specialists produced new competition formats that will be tested this winter, with ski jumping and cross-country ideally taking place at the same venue, races lasting approximately 60 minutes and an elimination format leading to a defined final. In addition, the Council approved Erzurum, in Palandöken, Türkiye, as the host of the 2027 FIS Junior World Snowboard Cross Championships, scheduled for February 23–25.
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