Christian Scherer, the CEO of the Austrian Ski Federation, is certain: “FIS President Johan Eliasch will not be reelected,” he states ahead of this week’s FIS Congress in Belgrade.

Scherer believes Eliasch is responsible for financial mismanagement within FIS.

We will have the answer on Thursday. The situation within FIS leadership is chaotic ahead of the meeting in Belgrade. The latest development is the resignation of executive director Urs Lehmann (57), who was a rival candidate to Eliasch in the last election.

Also Read: Ski CEO resigns immediately

Billionaire Eliasch holds both Swedish and British passports. However, he was not nominated by either country. In desperation, he secured citizenship in Georgia, which he now represents.

Several countries have submitted a letter criticizing Eliasch and his work. The Austrian Ski Federation is among the strongest opponents of the sitting FIS president. Their CEO, Christian Scherer, expressed in an interview with the German Der Standard:

“I don’t understand Eliasch. I don’t understand why he’s so resistant to finding solutions. He should be accountable to the organization. But if you close your eyes to the problem, you’ll be doomed.”

What is it that Eliasch is ignoring?

“”The financial figures! The fact that the balance between income and expenses in the annual operations is completely off.”

According to Scherer, ÖSV (Austrian Ski Federation) has been alerting FIS to these misdevelopments since 2024. Regarding the current situation, he states:

“Johan Eliasch wants to account for the large revenues from the Olympic Games, revenues that were previously distributed over several subsequent years, in just one year. And yet, there would be significant deficits this year. One must ask: how will FIS manage in the following three years?”

Less money in the coffers

Previously, according to Scherer, a “conservatively managed federation” under President Gian Franco Kasper built up reserves of over a hundred million. Now, the auditor has, according to Scherer, “clearly urged the FIS board to take measures to strengthen its equity, as the solidity has deteriorated. This is a clear signal; it couldn’t be clearer. Within FIS, the gap between ambition and reality is unfortunately large. If we in ÖSV were to budget the same way FIS does right now, we would need to budget for a World Championship in Saalbach every year.”

Austria and other major skiing nations have been critical of Eliasch both before and, even more so, after his first election in June 2021. Even when he was reelected in May 2022, he primarily won thanks to votes from many smaller nations. At that time, one could either vote for Eliasch or abstain; there was no option to vote against. The German Ski Federation therefore called the election a farce, although a later appeal to the Sports Arbitration Court was withdrawn.

Aiming to prevent reelection

Now, Scherer has taken the lead in the movement to prevent Eliasch from being reelected at the FIS Congress in Belgrade on Thursday.

“My heart is in skiing,” says the Austrian, who will leave ÖSV for the business world this fall, emphasizing:

“Everyone knows I am credible. I have no personal motives and am facing a job change. I don’t want anything to do with the FIS.”

Suddenly a Georgian

Notably, Eliasch had to obtain Georgian citizenship on short notice to even be able to run. His home federation in the UK chose to nominate Victoria Gosling instead of Eliasch.

Liechtenstein is putting forward lawyer and entrepreneur Alexander Ospelt, whom Scherer describes as an honorable bridge-builder.

“What will happen in the election on Thursday? Simply put: Eliasch will not be reelected. Ospelt will be elected and become the new president of FIS. I am completely convinced of that.”

Regarding reports that ÖSV, as several media outlets have reported, would threaten to withdraw World Cup events in Kitzbühel or Schladming if Eliasch is reelected, Scherer firmly dismisses this in his conversation with Der Standard.

“We haven’t even considered a plan B. There is a plan A, and it will succeed.”

The FIS Congress in Belgrade will be streamed live on FIS TV; watch it here.

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