"Absolute madness": Neureuther and Wasmeier rage about the "publicity show" by the head of the ski association

Created: 2022-10-25 05:03

By: Vincent Fischer

The international ski association FIS is under criticism.

Markus Wasmeier and Felix Neureuther don't give President Johan Eliasch a good hair.

Augsburg – The responsibility of sport in relation to environmental protection has been the subject of heated debate in recent years.

Skiing in particular is under increasing pressure.

Due to the effects of climate change, it is becoming more and more expensive to hold the competitions.

The two ex-drivers Markus Wasmeier (59) and Felix Neureuther (38) are now sharply criticizing the international ski association FIS.

Criticize FIS President Johan Eliasch sharply: Ex-ski racers Markus Wasmeier (left) and Felix Neureuther.

© Montage / Thomas Plettenberg (left) / Imago/Sven Simon (right)

Winter sports: Wasmeier railed against FIS boss Eliasch – "This is absolutely crazy"

For Wasmeier, the FIS President Johan Eliasch has no awareness of the ecological consequences of alpine skiing.

"Since Eliasch has been here, chaos has been announced and there is a great danger that the whole thing will be driven to the wall.

I don't think that those in the FIS give any thought to ecological things.

Otherwise they wouldn't do such things," said Wasmeier of the

, referring to the plans that failed on Saturday to have the first downhill races of the season next weekend in the area around the Matterhorn.

"It's absolutely amazing, not only ecologically, to drive on the glacier.

It's also insane for the athletes to start the first descent of the season at almost 4,000 meters and then also ski a mega distance," said Wasmeier.

“That would just be a publicity show by the new FIS boss Johan Eliasch.

Just how many helicopters would be needed to fly all the material up there.

It's insane these days."

Speed ​​kick-off at the end of October: Ski World Association causes heads to shake

The two-time Olympic champion accused the World Ski Association of acting "purely for marketing reasons".

He fears a high risk for the athletes at a race in Zermatt.

“On the glacier, once it's a bit cloudy you have no visibility, no trees to reference.

It's only white.

So bitter falls and injuries can happen," said the 59-year-old.

The Ski World Association FIS had canceled the races because rain had left the lower part of the route in poor condition.

The event had caused massive criticism in the alpine scene.

Above all, the date - for the first time the speed kick-off was to take place at the end of October and thus a month earlier than usual - had caused a shake of the head in many places.

Neureuther also criticizes the FIS boss: "Just look at the numbers in the wallet"

“The calendar as it is is no longer up-to-date.

I don't have a problem with races on glaciers, everything will shift further up anyway, but the time is just too early," said ex-ski star Felix Neureuther to the

.

FIS President Eliasch “only sees the numbers.

Not global warming numbers, but wallet numbers.

He's looking to generate more funds, which means more races, more effort for the athletes and more injuries."

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Most recently, the awarding of the 2029 Asian Winter Games to Saudi Arabia caused a stir in the winter sports world.

The competition is to take place in the planned city of Neom in the northwest of the country.

The area is currently still a dry desert landscape and there is practically no rain.

"You can't even get angry anymore because it's so absurd.

They don't care about anything," says Wasmeier.