- We can not offer the same audience party as previous years, says Johan Falk, CEO of the company that arranges the cross-country cup in Ulricehamn.

- It will be a big financial challenge, adds Ulrika Back Eriksson, CEO of the Swedish Ski Games in Falun.

In early October, the International Ski Federation (Fis) decides on the winter world cup and date. Much is uncertain today about the design of the program.

The Swedish World Cup organizers in Ulricehamn (16-17 January next year) and Falun (30-31 January) can not wait for Fi's message but have entered a more concrete stage in the planning - without knowing the conditions.

- In any case, we are sure that it will not be the same audience party as previous years in Ulricehamn. To cope with this, we must start building stands already at the end of August. We do not take that risk, says Johan Falk.

He says that the World Cup company in Ulricehamn plans to create a financial plan for the competitions, which will be ready by September. Thereafter, Ulricehamn is ready for a quick decision on the event directly in connection with the Fis decision that will come in early October.

- In terms of time, it is good to then start in earnest and make a reconciliation in mid-December. But we are now working on a basis that means zero audience, which can then be switched up to a condition of a small audience and possibly more audiences, says Johan Falk.

In Falun, there are similar ideas, where the organizers work according to three parallel scenarios: Without an audience, limited audience or normal-sized audience.

- We are ready for all eventualities and have no deadline for, for example, the start of ticket sales. At the same time, we have received signals from Fis that they are really set on conducting the World Cup this winter. A canceled World Cup season would not be good for Fis. Here it can be tough for the organizers who are first in the program. They do not get much time, says Ulrika Back Eriksson.

The reason why Falun, unlike Ulricehamn, is ready to arrange competitions with a normal audience size is that there are already stands in Falun.

At the same time, the uncertainty poses major challenges in sponsorship sales. Neither Falun nor Ulricehamn know which concept they are going to sell to the business community, which is already having great difficulties.

- In Falun, we have guaranteed sponsorship income from Fis and the Swedish Ski Association if there are competitions. It is mainly the local sponsors who can help us cut costs through deliveries of goods, products and services, among other things. The big challenge will be to constantly keep costs down and adapt to zero audiences or few visitors, says Ulrika Back Eriksson.

CLIP: Frida Karlsson relaxes with golf: "Now I will get a lot of technical tips" (June 3, 2020)

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser. We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support