Monday afternoon, the FIS announced that all World Cup events in cross-country skiing and Nordic combined, scheduled from 21st to 23rd January in Planica, Slovenia, are cancelled.

The World Cup in Planica had a total of eight competitions. However, due the current acute development of the pandemic in Slovenia, the safety of stakeholders involved at those large scale events could not be guaranteed. 

In addition, potentially growing numbers of infected and quarantined individuals would result in critical status for the basic service infrastructure to function. Therefore, after strong recommendation by the health authorities, the Slovenian Ski Federation together with the LOC have decided to cancel the events, the FIS informs in a press release.

Cancels pre-World Championships
“The cancellation is especially tough as the cross-country courses as well as the ski jumping hills are in perfect conditions and would have set a great stage for the test events for next years FIS Nordic Ski World Championships. Nevertheless, the health and safety for all involved comes first” the FIS writes. 

The FIS and the organizers are looking into a possible replacement. In that case, the FIS will communicate the decision as soon as possible.

“In the current epidemiological situation 100 percent safety cannot be guaranteed. Unvaccinated people will sooner or later become infected due to the high infectivity of the virus and risky contacts which would lead to the quarantine of a large number of other people, including foreign athletes,” says physician Dr. Irena Grmek Košnik. 

Dr. Grmek Košnik works with the Slovenian National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food and National Institute of Public Health, and is also the Covid-19 coordinator in Planica Organizing Committee.

“The current epidemiological situation in the country is poor and we are primarily trying to maintain the operation of critical infrastructure. At the same time, we prefer not to recommend events that pose additional risks for infections,” Grmek Košnik says. 

Next: 2022 Olympics 
Last week, the FIS World Cup in Les Rousses, France, scheduled for January 14 to 16, was cancelled. 

Accordingly, the 2022 Olympics in February is the next international competition. The Beijing organizing committee and the International Olympics Committee announced last week that the 2022 Olympics will not be postponed or cancelled.