The Swedish Skiing Federation has been rocked by internal disputes, which have led to both police reports and a report to the sport’s own court, the National Sports Board.
At about the same time that the conflicts became known, chairman Karin Mattsson announced that she would resign.
Fight for the post of chairman
As the new chairman, the selection committee has proposed Jonas Bauer, who was previously manager at Skistar and CEO of Vasaloppet.
However, it was a disagreeable selection committee, as Götaland’s representative in it reserved himself against the decision and criticized Bauer’s proposal.
Now nine districts, all in Götaland, have instead nominated Anders Furbeck as chairman.
Furbeck, who is today chairman of the Norrbotten Skiing Association, has been on the Swedish Skiing Association’s board for four years, but was not included in the selection committee’s proposal for a new chairman.
SVT has been in contact with Furbeck, who confirms that he has accepted the nomination, but does not want to make any other comments.
“Terribly boring”
Jonas Bauer tells SVT Sport that he has nothing against the fact that a rival candidate has been launched, but sees it as a shame that the movement is as divided as it is.
– Basically, it’s terribly boring, because skiing is about passion and love for skiing and snow – that’s what you want to do, he says.
– This is what we want least of all for skiing to be exposed to and seen around.
Bauer believes that it is clear that there are two camps within the movement.
– As I interpret it, there are two branches within the board, the ski association and Skis Sweden. One wants to see more change and the other wants to keep what has been, he says.
Which branch are you on?
– I am on the branch that sees that we probably need to take some new steps. It comes from the beginning that I think we are lagging behind from a results perspective, both in some parts of the cross-country side and the alpine side.
– Then the need for change is reinforced when you look at what has happened in the board over the past year. We probably need to start a bit from the beginning, and that is why I have said that it is important to make a proper shift.
ARCHIVE: Background on the conflict in the ski association
