

MINUTES
FIS Athletesʼ Commission
Friday, 22nd May 2009, at 14:00-18:30 CET in Dubrovnik (CRO)
1. Welcome and Roll Call

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper welcomed the Commission members to Cavtat-
Dubrovnik (CRO) for the first meeting of the newly-elected Commission and
expressed his pleasure at the level of attendance. All members were present:

Albrecht Kilian (BUL) – menʼs Alpine

Blais Ryan (CAN) – menʼs Freestyle
Bray Juliane (NZE) – ladiesʼ Snowboard
Huttary Karin (AUT) – ladiesʼ Freestyle
Jauhojärvi Sami (FIN) – menʼs Cross-Country
Kostelic Ivica (CRO) – menʼs Alpine
Küttel Andreas (SUI) – Ski Jumping
Ligocki Mateusz (POL) – menʼs Snowboard
Marchand-Arvier Marie (FRA) – ladiesʼ Alpine
Pärson Anja (SWE) – ladiesʼ Alpine
Randall Kikkan (USA) – ladiesʼ Cross-Country
Schmid Jan (NOR) – Nordic Combined

President Kasper recalled the history of the Athletesʼ Commission at FIS and
highlighted its role as connection between the FIS Athletes and the FIS Council
within the FIS structure which he briefly outlined. He also reviewed the general
process of decision-making at FIS.

Sarah Lewis, FIS Secretary General, also welcomed the Commission at the FIS
Calendar Conference and wished it the best of luck. She noted that the constitution
of the Commission would need to be officially confirmed by the FIS Council in its next
meeting in June in Vancouver (CAN). (Note: The Council confirmed the Commission
as elected).

2. Election of Chair

President Kasper summarized the importance of the Commission electing its own
leadership. Given that the members did not know each other, he asked whether the
Commission would prefer to elect an interim chair and then decide on the later
course of action upon further reflection. The Commission agreed and Kilian Albrecht
was elected as Chair of the Day.

President Kasper wished the Commission a good meeting and indicated that he is
looking forward to receiving its feedback.



3. Recording of Meeting
Ryan Blais asked the Commission to decide whether the meeting would be recorded
in an effort to increase communication and transparency. The Commission decided
with a majority that the meeting would be recorded and, if necessary, edited before
publication.

4. Fight against cheating in sport

Sarah Fussek from the FIS Anti-Doping department reviewed some of the key pillars
of the FIS program, particularly under the new WADA Code. A detailed discussion
ensued in particular concerning ADAMS.

Key points included:

• Registration is required for SMS updates to athlete whereabouts. Each
athlete can do this by registering their mobile number via e-mail to
antidoping@fisski.com. The mobile number for SMS updates is +41 79 376
5561. FIS will look into sending a confirmation SMS back after receiving an
SMS whereabouts update. (Note: Feature is now available). Alternatively an
athlete may choose to register their mobile number directly in ADAMS. In this
case, a confirmation SMS is not currently available.

• ACTION ITEM: FIS agreed to try to put together a list of resources relating to
allowed drugs by country. (Note: Feature is now available)

• Ryan made the proposal for the members to continue discussion for
improvement suggestions on ADAMS on www.democraski.com with focus on
improvements that FIS can implement. (Note: A discussion group has been
set up).

• Marie Marchand-Arvier discussed a French program called Athletes for

Transparency www.athletesfortransparency.com and other national programs
for athletes voluntarily revealing complete testing information. Question was
raised whether FIS should have a similar program to help FIS athletes to
show that they are clean and potentially reduce the burden of whereabouts
reporting in the future.
• ACTION ITEM: FIS to inform the Commission about timings of releases of
ADAMS to the newly founded test group in which FIS is a member. The
expected timeline of new release is before the Vancouver 2010 Games.
• ACTION ITEM: Members to report back to Sarah F. about items of interest in
Anti-Doping for next meeting.




• ACTION ITEM: FIS to enclose to the minutes the most important links on FIS
website or to other Internet resources such as new WADA Code and the
latest version of FIS Anti-Doping Rules.
General: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/medical/fisanti-doping.html
Rules: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/medical/fisanti-
doping/medicalantidoping/rulesandforms.html
Drugs databases: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/medical/fisanti-
doping/medicalantidoping/national-data-bases.html
5. Frequency of drug testing in and out of competition
Kikkan Randall, Cross-Country

• Kikkan Randall presented feedback from Cross-Country athletes requesting

more random testing and more in-competition testing. FIS explained its focus
on out-of-competition testing, as mandated by the new WADA Code, based
on recent experience showing its enhanced effectiveness in catching cheats.

• ACTION ITEM: FIS to request comment from the FIS Anti-Doping Expert on
lack of blood testing in Alpine and the lack of availability of their own results to
athletes when the tests are negative.

• ACTION ITEM: FIS to send testing statistics 2008 & 2009 as part of minutes
along with FIS Fact Sheets on hemoglobin limits.

FIS Testing Statistics 2008/09:

http://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/statistics-08-09.pdf
Previous seasons:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/medical/fisanti-
doping/medicalantidoping/fisandwada.html
FIS Fact Sheets:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/news/pressreleases/archive-2008/fis-anti-doping-
backgrou.html (June 2008)
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/news/pressreleases/archive-2008/fis-fact-sheet-
anti-dopi.html (December 2008)
See also additional links at the bottom of the Fact Sheets.



6. Additional Member Initiatives:

• Athlete Communication & Transparency
Ryan Blais, Freestyle

Ryan Blais explained the rationale and goals of the new web platform at
www.democraski.com. The Commission decided that sign-up would be
required to participate in the discussions. All who register will be welcome to
participate including coaches and NSA officials. Ryan agreed to make the
necessary technical changes and provide an instruction sheet for the
Commission members to moderate their own discussions.

ACTION ITEM: FIS to link to www.Democraski.com from the FIS website

following its confirmation by the Council. FIS to create a separate page on the
Commission.

ACTION ITEM: FIS to help communicate about the web platform as part of
staggered promotional effort towards athletes, teams/coaches and officials as
well as National Ski Associations.

ACTION ITEM: Commission to develop plan to reach the most FIS athletes.

• Athlete/Discipline Representation
Ryan Blais, Freestyle

Ryan Blais suggested that the constitution of the Commission should be

enlarged at a minimum to include representation from all the Olympic events.
I.e. the Commission would need to include total of three Snowboard and
Freestyle athletes each to reflect the highly diversified nature of these two
disciplines.

ACTION ITEM: Commission to consider submitting a motion to the Council

for its next meeting (Deadline Oct 1 2009).

• Standardized equipment control procedures for World Cup events/

Standardized protest procedures for World Cup events
Karin Huttary, Freestyle
Karin Huttary explained the need for a clarification of procedure of how
athletes are consulted on items relating to equipment across disciplines and
the procedures for petitions in such issues. The same applies for protest
procedures and their application.
In many cases such rules seem to exist though may vary across disciplines.
The athletes request more opportunity to influence definition of such rules.



ACTION ITEM: Commission to ask the Council to clarify and unify the
procedures by which the Commission members can bring topics related to
sport rules directly to their main discipline Technical Committee whereby it
will address all general topics directly to the Council as per current rules.
ACTION ITEM: FIS to share with Commission key contacts within each
disciplineʼs Technical Committees including their Working Groups. (See
attachment to Minutes: FIS Directory 2008).
ACTION ITEM: Commission to identify ways to collect most effectively the
feedback from their peers in their respective disciplines. Note: Challenge of
locating contact information!
• FIS Athlete Arbitration procedure
Kilian Albrecht, Alpine

Kilian Albrecht discussed the need for defining a procedure by which the
athleteʼs rights are defined and can be secured in any conflicts with their own
National Ski Associations. He suggested the Commission might consider this
as one of the long-term projects during its tenure.

ACTION ITEM: Ryan & Kikkan to research examples of existing national

procedures for grievances.
• Financial support for severely injured athletes
Kilian Albrecht, Alpine
Kilian Albrecht discussed the need for financial safety for those who have
been severely injured while skiing. Several private foundations seem to exist
such as the Thomas Fogdö Foundation and the Franz Klammer Foundation.
FIS too has the so-called Marc Hodler Foundation which supports athletes
with insufficient insurance coverage.

ACTION ITEM: Commission to compile a list of similar foundations and make

such information better available. Possibly also consider setting up yet
another similar fund.
• Distribution of World Cup prize money (top 10 vs top 20 vs top 30)
Andreas Küttel, Ski Jumping
Andreas Küttel outlined recent discussion especially in Ski Jumping and
Nordic Combined about sharing the same amount of prize money among
more athletes. The Commission noted that the prize money amounts had not
been increased in several years in most disciplines.



ACTION ITEM: FIS to share link to prize money distribution for 2008/09
season as part of minutes.
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/news/pressreleases/archive-2008/prize-money-
2008-2009.html
ACTION ITEM: Commission to submit to the Council that it is good to have
more athletes receiving prize money especially in the current times of
financial distress but request it to consider making such changes over time
along with increases in total amount.
• (Minimum) standards for World Cup organizers including checklists
and general respect for athletes
Kilian Albrecht, Alpine
Karin Huttary, Freestyle
The Commission members discussed the fact that currently there are no
clearly defined, detailed rules for what the organizers are expected to provide
for the athletes at an event, such as regarding accommodation, board, athlete
hospitality and other services (e.g. WIFI).
ACTION ITEM: Commission to define simple rules for athlete treatment in the
form of a checklist addressed directly to the organizers.
• Increasing value of FIS World Cup: Marketing and calendar planning
Karin Huttary, Freestyle
• Athlete sponsoring rights; Charities, Non-Profits & Affiliations
Killian Albrecht, Alpine
Ryan Blais, Freestyle

The members noted that the athletes are hurt by the current financial
situation, possibly with the exception of the worldʼs very best ones.
Niklas Carlsson provided an update from the part of FIS Marketing and
relating to current rules.
• Male and female connection athlete
Karin Huttary, Freestyle
Not discussed

7. 4th IOC International Athletesʼ Forum: Feedback for discussion on ʻSocial and
professional life of athletes during and after elite competitionʼ
Pernilla Wiberg

Not discussed due to lack of time.

ACTION ITEM: Anja to talk to Pernilla to find out more details. Commission to
consider establishing a program that helps athletes during and after career.




8. Presentation of FIS Injury Surveillance System: Findings after 3 seasons

Tonje Wåle Flørenes, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Not discussed due to lack of time and postponed to next meeting

9. Other Items

Ownership of listed Action Items: In principle, the athlete suggesting a general

topic is in charge of taking it forward. Any suggestions to be submitted to FIS Council
are due in final form on 1st October 2009.

Communication: Until the election of chair/vice chair via e-mail, generally all
communication is directed to entire Commission.

FIS Newsflash portraits: During the upcoming months, each member will be
featured in a short interview in the FIS weekly newsletter published every
Wednesday. Riikka to contact each member individually some two weeks prior to
their portrait publication.

10. Next Steps

Focus on electronic communications. All members to join www.democraski.com and

encourage other athletes to join. Skype conference calls to be held once a quarter on
average.

11. Next Meeting

Next official meeting will be held during the FIS Congress 2010 in Antalya (TUR).

For the minutes

Riikka Rakic