“I succumbed to general hysteria”: the mayor of Trondheim opposed the participation of Russians in the 2025 World Ski Championships

“Russia is undesirable as a participating country”

For almost two years now, Russian athletes have been deprived of the opportunity to fully compete at international competitions. But while in some sports they are doing everything to give them a chance to participate at least in a neutral status, in others there is not yet a hint of improvement in the situation. Unfortunately, we are also talking about cross-country skiing.

The statement by Kent Ranum, the mayor of Trondheim, Norway, where the World Cup will be held in 2025, did not add optimism. He emphasized that the tournament hosts do not want to see the domestic team.

“Russia is undesirable as a participating country. It is not right for one country to have athletes on the front line, while another has them at the training base in Granosen. Therefore, my message to the Russians is this: you are not welcome at the World Cup in Trondheim,” the VG politician quotes.

In addition to the SVO, he cited doping problems and a corruption scandal involving the former head of the International Biathlon Union Anders Besseberg, against whom a criminal case has been filed, as other reasons for the negative attitude towards the country. According to Ranum, Russia is at the center of this proceeding.

In response to the loud words, the VG journalist reasonably noted that the final decision will remain with the FIS. But the mayor expressed confidence that the international federation will have to take into account the opinion of local authorities.

“We can clearly formulate our expectations and indicate to the FIS what we mean. It's about us as a municipality, sponsors and ticket buyers. If no one speaks out for a cleanup, then no pressure will be put on FIS. We expect this to be taken seriously,” Ranum added.

Norwegian Erik Røste, a member of the FIS board of directors, also supported his position. He believes that sport in the current circumstances cannot be separated from world politics.

“For me, this is not a question of legislation and legal norms, but of what we think is right and wrong. We are talking about an international battle for values. Sports cannot remain on the sidelines. Therefore, it is completely unacceptable for me that FIS invites athletes from Russia and Belarus to competitions. I made this clear to the federation board,” Röste said.

In fact, the Scandinavians went against the position of IOC President Thomas Bach, who has repeatedly called for Russians to be allowed into international competitions subject to a number of conditions. At the end of last year, he once again emphasized: individual athletes should not be held responsible for the actions of the authorities. Bach also recalled that there are about 30 armed conflicts going on in the world, and all other athletes calmly compete with each other.

“Norway has long shown its true attitude towards Russia”

In the world of domestic skiing, the words of the mayor of Trondheim did not cause much surprise. The head of the FLGR, Elena Vyalbe, reacted most emotionally. “I don’t care about him!” - Sport Express quotes her.

In turn, senior coach of the national team Yuri Borodavko complained that Norway will do everything to prevent the team from at least the 2025 World Cup.

“For us, nothing changes globally. We are moving forward and will develop. Norway has long shown its true attitude towards Russia and Russian athletes... The line has been passed, now politicians are setting conditions for FIS. Sports are getting less and less of a voice,” the specialist noted in a commentary to Sport24.

And one of the leading domestic skiers, Veronika Stepanova, in response to Ranum’s call, published an old photo from the competition in Trondheim on the Telegram channel and left a message for the politician.

“So run in your politicized Scandinavian ski championships. And we will develop formats where the nationality and political views of the athlete do not matter,” the Olympic champion wrote.

The State Duma also reacted to what happened. For example, the chairman of the committee on physical culture and sports, Dmitry Svishchev, called on the FIS to move the world championship to another place.

“Firstly, we still have to live until 2025, which is what we wish for Ranum. If I were FIS, I would definitely think about whether it might be worth postponing the World Cup? A place where everyone will be welcome, regardless of passport, skin color or religion. Secondly, how does this person know what will happen next year? As far as I understand, FIS has extended the suspension of Russians and Belarusians only for the 2023/24 season. It’s just amazing,” Svishchev said in a conversation with RT.

He also noted that Ranum succumbed to anti-Russian hysteria and cited as an example the publication by the Latvian Sejm of a special law prohibiting local athletes from competing with Russians and Belarusians.

“Should he even try to be re-elected to his post in the future? By the way, the city mayor does not decide whether to admit athletes or not. There definitely needs to be a tough position on the part of our diplomats. It wouldn’t hurt for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a statement either,” Svishchev added.

And his colleague Svetlana Zhurova is sure that in this way the politician simply attracts additional attention from voters.

“I just want to ask, is he not affected by the situation with Israel? This generally looks like a general wave of criticism, which is associated with the maintenance of one specific topic among the masses,” Zhurova complained.

For other experts, the mayor's statement evoked opposite emotions. Thus, the former Minister of Sports of Russia Pavel Kolobkov urged people to simply not pay attention to him.

“It’s really unpleasant to hear this only from outstanding athletes and coaches, who should still be talking about sports, and not engaging in political slogans,” he explained.

At the same time, he urged not to compare Ranum’s attack with the actions of the Latvian Seimas.   

“These are different things. The mayor of Trondheim expressed a personal opinion, which does not bind anyone, and the Sejm adopted the corresponding law, essentially interfering in the affairs of public organizations and violating the independence of the sports movement,” Kolobkov emphasized.

But two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev suggested that the politician is infected with the Russophobia virus. In his opinion, Ranum’s statement completely contradicts the principles of the Olympic movement, according to which athletes cannot be responsible for the actions of their governments. He considered the Norwegian’s position to be ordinary populism.

“We still have to see when his next elections will be held. Now many people are using the current situation to raise their ratings, while presenting themselves as some kind of peacemakers, which they are not. A reasonable politician should not call people to discord, but, on the contrary, bring them together through sport,” he concluded.