Appointment on Thursday

“Blackmail!” ÖSV defends itself against FIS decision

Austria's ski association will explain its point of view in the legal tug-of-war over media and marketing rights with the FIS on Thursday. A first public hearing has been scheduled at the Vienna Higher Regional Court from 11.00 am. A verdict is not expected. "Our legal counsel is not assuming that a decision will be made ad hoc," explained ÖSV Managing Director Christian Scherer.

The ÖSV filed a lawsuit against the world federation in June. The reason was an FIS decision that World Cups in various winter sports should no longer be marketed by the national federations but centrally by the world federation in future. "Our position is that the decision by the FIS Executive Board in April 2024 restricts competition and is a form of blackmail. Because it explicitly states that if you sign this, you get that in return. That is a point that we will definitely fight against," explained Scherer.

The German Ski Association has already achieved a partial legal success in the case. The Munich I Regional Court largely granted an application by the DSV for a temporary injunction. According to the court, a FIS decision on centralized marketing from spring 2024 violated European antitrust law. It may therefore not be implemented as it stands, the Munich court ruled.

Signal effect from Germany
The FIS reacted harshly at the time and announced an appeal against a decision that was deemed "completely wrong". The world federation emphasized that the decision only concerned the DSV and was not transferable to other national federations. However, the regional court did not explicitly state this in its press release.

Johan Eliasch(Bild: GEPA)

For Scherer, however, the Munich decision has a "signal effect for the proceedings in Austria". "In addition, it is very clear from the ruling that it was also very clearly clarified that the original rights ownership lies with the associations, the organizers." In any case, the first meeting is expected to be relaxed.

The national associations are not fundamentally opposed to central marketing; they also consider the move to be strategically sensible in principle. However, they are opposed to the approach of the FIS under its controversial President Johan Eliasch. The federations are demanding to be involved in the allocation and contractual design of the marketing rights. So far, they have not been convinced by the FIS that the reform would bring them decisive advantages.