The World Championship scandal in Trondheim just keeps growing. Now, the Control Committee of Trondheim Municipality is demanding a full investigation of the Ski World Championships.

The investigation will cover the entire period since the establishment of “Ski-VM Trondheim 2025 AS” in 2021. No one knows how big the company’s financial deficit will be, but all indications point to many millions of Norwegian kroner.

“One of the biggest cross-party initiatives we’ve had in this city has ended with a company in financial crisis. This represents a serious breach of trust,” says the head of the Control Committee, Gjermund Bungum Gorset (Labour Party), to VG.

The Labour Party, the Conservatives, the Socialist Left Party, the Liberal Party, and the Pensioners’ Party are united behind Tuesday’s decision to launch a full investigation.

A projected surplus of NOK 20 million (about 1.7 million Euros in today’s exchange rate), which was supposed to support skiing in the coming years, has, according to forecasts, turned into a multi-million-kroner deficit. This affects those who contributed, invested in, or worked for the Ski Championships.

Now, there’s a risk that many of these individuals and companies will not be paid for the work they did. That could have dire consequences for smaller businesses that committed significant resources to the event.

Strong parallels to the 2017 Cycling World Championships

The parallels to the bankruptcy of the 2017 Cycling World Championships in Bergen are striking. It’s clear that Trondheim 2025 learned nothing from the Bergen scandal.

“I feel like we’re in a situation with more excuses than actual explanations. Neither the company nor its owners are able to give any clear or direct answer as to how we ended up in this situation, how the forecasts could look so positive, and then suddenly reverse, long after the event,” Gorset further tells VG.

According to the newspaper, the investigation is expected to begin in August and could last several months.

Also Read: The World Ski Championships were supposed to yield a profit – now the bills are pouring in

Top executives forgo pay

Board Chair Åsne Havnelid has admitted the scandal and acknowledged failure in her role. She recently announced that she will waive her board remuneration, which is approximately NOK 250,000.

Now, World Championships CEO Åge Skinstad has also announced he will not collect his remaining salary for the final months of his contract. He has had a monthly salary of just over NOK 146,000 and is waiving about NOK 450,000 remaining on his contract.

At the same time, the atmosphere in Trondheim Municipality is at rock bottom, and city officials are demanding answers.

“We must be honest and admit that this clearly came at the expense of other important tasks for the municipality. That’s the price the city has been willing to pay. That’s why the citizens deserve clear answers. They deserve to know why this turned out the way it did,” says Gjermund Gorset.

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