The energy crisis in Europe is increasingly interfering in all spheres of society, including sports.
And if at the beginning of September officials only expressed concern that competitions in some winter sports would have to be canceled, then by the beginning of November, athletes had already missed several tournaments.
On Tuesday, November 8, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced the postponement of the sprint skiing World Cup.
It was to be held in Milan on 21 and 22 January.
However, as it turned out, the organization of the event in the city would lead to too high energy costs, so it was decided to hold it in the mountain resort of Livigno.
“Of course, we want to make as few changes as possible to the original calendar program, but we cannot ignore the global problems that the organizers of the competition face.
That is why we must constantly be in touch with them and be able to respond in time,” the FIS said in a statement.
In addition, the Big Air Freestyle World Cup in Falun has already been cancelled.
It was scheduled for the end of November.
Moreover, Sweden was preparing to host the competition for the first time after a long pause: flying skiers and snowboarders had not performed here for more than ten years.
According to the representative of the national federation Stefan Karlsson, the decision is connected with rising energy prices and high inflation.
“Due to the current situation in the world, we have financial problems.
Anxiety about what is happening has forced companies to reconsider the direction of investments.
This affected the conduct of the competition.
It is very sad that we are forced to cancel the stage, but we did our best to try to hold it, ”said Karlsson.
The organizers also canceled the Ski Classics pre-season race, which was supposed to take place on November 12 in Shushen, Norway.
The reason was too warm weather and insufficient amount of artificial snow to prepare the track for the competition.
“Unfortunately, abnormal weather temperatures in the south of Norway make it impossible to produce artificial snow and therefore a worthy race this year.
We are very pleased with the great interest from the Shushen district
for the event, broadcasters for the show, as well as great interest in the race from professional teams and athletes.
We are transferring plans related to this race to next winter.
Now we will focus on the opening of the season in Bad Gastein, Austria, on December 10-11, ”said David Nilsson, director of Ski Classics.
It would seem that in the latter case, everything is explained by climatic anomalies.
However, warm weather in late autumn and even winter for Europe is a common occurrence.
And competitions in skiing, snowboarding and biathlon are provided in most of these cases due to artificial snow.
But if earlier the inclusion of cannons and the laying of tracks were beneficial to the organizers, now they will think several times about the advisability of holding races at positive temperatures.
This, of course, worries athletes and coaches.
In particular, the silver medalist of the 2002 Olympics, German Peter Schlickenrieder, expressed his concerns.
“Due to the energy crisis and electricity prices, it is not easy for the organizers to produce a lot of snow.
And he is an important foundation for us.
We will see the cancellation of competitions, in particular, where they want to completely consciously refuse to produce snow, ”the specialist explained in a comment to BR24 Sport.
So, the holding of the Tour de Ski stage in Oberstdorf is a big question.
The full ski season there starts from mid-December, but there is no guarantee that there will be enough natural snow in Bavaria by Christmas.
At this time, the air temperature there is kept around zero degrees.
So far there is no FIS on the calendar and one more start - in Dresden.
For the past few years, sprint races have been held there, but they were held in the very center of the city, and snow had to be brought in for the competition.
At the same time, officials openly admit that they do not know how to save the situation.
According to FIS Secretary General Michel Vion, there is no Plan B in the federation.
“We are aware of the problems associated, in particular, with the production of snow and the preparation of slopes.
Now ordinary people are forced to save gas, electricity and water, so it is not easy for many to accept that the Alpine Skiing and Skiing World Cup races are very close at hand, requiring great effort and expense.
But we are optimistic, and we think we can handle it”, — quotes the words of Vion Superski.
The FIS strategy in this situation is quite simple and consists in moving the competitions to those places that already host World Cups in order to optimize logistics.
“We can say with confidence that this season someone will not be able to host the competition.
But let's wait a bit and see.
As we all know, our competitions are outdoors and we are heavily dependent on snow and weather,” Vion said.
At the same time, FIS and the International Biathlon Union (IBU) continue to support the recommendations of the IOC and do not allow Russian athletes to take part in international competitions, and also refuse to hold competitions on the territory of the Russian Federation, although the country has a sufficient number of equipped tracks and snow for holding the World Cup in different sports.
Preparations are already underway for domestic competitions in Tyumen and Khanty-Mansiysk.
As a result, political interference in sports can affect winter sports much more than just the loss of such spectacular confrontations as the fight between Alexander Bolshunov and Johannes Klebo.
And if in figure skating ISU has not counted the profits from sponsors, and fewer spectators are gathering in the stands, then a full season in skiing and biathlon may not take place at all.
However, despite the current situation, one cannot count on warming relations with Russia on the part of international organizations.
According to two-time Olympic biathlon champion Dmitry Vasiliev, officials are simply afraid to express their opinion and go against the IOC.
“There is no freedom of speech.
Even those people in the international federation who really think differently (and there are many of them) cannot speak out openly and at best they are silent, and at worst they are obliged to speak out against Russia.
Therefore, it is not necessary to count on something positive.
But such is the situation now.
All this foam will come off after a while.
It will end with the inhabitants of Western states taking to the streets and saying: “Enough!
We need to negotiate with Russia!”
Only at this moment will the whole epic with sports end, ”Vasilyev said in a conversation with RT.