Starting Gun Fired on Bitter Election Battle for Control FIS

by admin in RSS Social News. Posted April 24, 2026

Eliasch is aiming for a third term but he has ruffled many feathers and some see him as running FIS as an autocrat and forcing his will on members.

Others see him as a visionary who is reforming an organisation that desperately needs it.

The billionaire British-Swedish businessman, who grew the company HEAD, is president of skiing’s governing body and is aiming for another term in office.

Despite being born in Sweden, and with British nationality, neither country will back him, so he is being nominated by the Georgian Ski Association.

It appears he has acquired Georgian nationality, as FIS rules state that a presidential candidate must hold a valid passport from the country of the federation nominating them.

Johan Eliasch, image c/o FIS.

He was nominated by the British Federation when he won the FIS presidency in 2021.

He was also classed as a British candidate in a failed bid to be President of the International Olympic Committee last year.

Vikki Gosling, OBE has the full backing of the board of GB Snowsport after her tenure as CEO of the organisation.

She has just overseen GB Snowsport with Team GB’s most successful Winter Olympics on snow at Milan-Cortina, including Olympic gold in Snowboard X.

“I am very grateful to the board of GB Snowsport for their support and confidence in nominating me as a candidate for the FIS Presidential elections,” she said when her nomination was announced last month.

Vicky Gosling, CEO GB Snowsport. Image © PlanetSKI

“It would be a privilege to play a greater role in shaping the strategic direction of our sport alongside all other FIS nations and supporting the growth of skiing and snowboarding worldwide that we all wish to see.

“I am also grateful to the board and to my colleagues within GB Snowsport for their continuing work in ensuring the progress of our athletes and our programme.

“I will continue to take a hands-on role in delivering GB Snowsport’s work, while also looking to share the ambition and successes we have brought to British skiing and snowboarding as part of a vision for the next phase of FIS’ future.”

This week FIS confirmed the names of the people who have put their hat in the ring:

Johan Eliasch (GEO)
Anna Harboe Falkenberg (DEN)
Victoria Gosling (GBR)
Alexander Ospelt (LIE)
Dexter Paine (USA)

At the second election of Johan Eliasch some skiing nations walked out before the vote began claiming the process was undemocratic.

Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Croatia led a group of 15 national associations who demanded the option of voting yes, no, or abstaining — a request that was denied.

The issue ended up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport as opponents challenged the legitimacy of the re-election process.

The case was ultimately withdrawn.

Eliasch has upset the established ski nations during his time in office as he pushed reforms through.

Many of the large ski nations opposed him centralising broadcast and marketing rights and taking power away from national federations.

The final list of eligible candidates, as approved by the FIS Nomination and Remuneration Committee, will be communicated no later than 20th May 2026.

All nominated candidates may now begin their promotional campaigns.

The election will take place during the FIS Congress on 11th June 2026 in Belgrade, Serbia.

All candidature documents are available here.

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