On the 2027 World Cup dispute: Is settling scores with the Swiss behind the new ski dispute?

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It is sunny in the ski resort of Switzerland these days. Marco Odermatt (26) dominates the men’s World Cup in his own opinion, while Lara Gut-Behrami (32) is aiming for four crystal balls in the women’s category.

But the bomb explodes on Friday evening. The World Ski Association is threatening to withdraw the 2027 World Ski Championships from Crans-Montana USA. This concerns so-called non-guaranteed financial security.

Of all the places in serious Switzerland and Crans-Montana, a location that has a lot of experience with ski competitions? Hard to believe. In any case, federal councilor Guy Parmelin (64) has already denied that the federal government and the cantons are not fulfilling their obligations.

But what you need to know is that there has been discussion behind the scenes for some time about whether the municipality of the World Cup location should provide additional guarantees against cancellation. The FIS would only have formulated certain conditions here after the World Cup had been awarded. The discussions on this subject between the Swiss Ski management around President Urs Lehmann and CEO Diegoüger with FIS boss Johan Eliasch and his general secretary Michel Vion are said to have been constructive recently, and Vion’s performance on Friday in Crans was also seen as positive experienced. There is therefore great surprise about the new FIS threat – also in FIS circles.

New phase in the dispute with Switzerland

Perhaps the latest escalation should also be understood differently: as the next phase in the unspeakable dispute between Eliasch and the Swiss. The Swiss, together with other major national associations, are opposing Eliasch’s central marketing plans. And on a personal note, Eliasch recently accused Lehmann of unethical behavior after criticizing the creation of the World Cup calendar.

It looks like Eliasch wants to pull one over on his favorite enemies from Switzerland. Especially at the weekend, when the ski country has a lot to celebrate.

Source : Blick