BERLIN (Reuters) – Four national associations, including skiing powerhouses Austria and Switzerland, have filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over last month’s presidential vote at global governing body FIS.
FIS said an appeal had been filed to sport’s highest court by Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Croatia.
“The four appellants notified FIS last Friday that ‘procedural motions that were obviously formulated according to democratic principles and correctly submitted or brought forward were not admitted by the external FIS legal counsel’.
“‘For this reason, we have decided to have the proceedings of the FIS Congress 2022 reviewed by CAS as a precautionary measure'”, FIS said, quoting from the letter by the appellants.
It was not immediately clear what specific motions were referred to in relation to the May election at FIS.
The German association did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Swedish-born billionaire businessman Johan Eliasch won another term in the elections in late May, having run unopposed after having first won in 2021.
British-based Eliasch, who has dual nationality, is only the fifth FIS president in 97 years.
It was, however, far from a smooth vote, with some members, including the four associations, expressing complaints over the procedures of the vote, and some opting not to take part.
“FIS is confident that the proceedings of the FIS 2022 Congress were held in strict compliance with the FIS Statutes and Swiss law, as confirmed by FIS legal advisors,” FIS said.
“Furthermore, FIS believes that the allegations put forward by the four National Member Associations are entirely without merit or substance.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
