Last winter, the dispute between the FIS and Swiss-Ski threatened to escalate. Now the World Championships contract for the ski festival planned for February 2027 in Crans-Montana has finally been signed.
The organizing committee, the municipalities of Crans-Montana, Icogne and Lens as well as the Swiss-Ski and FIS federations have signed the organizer contract, which regulates the cooperation between these stakeholders, the Swiss federation announced in a press release on Friday. This marks another milestone in the preparations for the 49th edition of the Alpine World Ski Championships in Valais.
In February, the matter was still threatening to escalate on the sidelines of the last World Cup races in Crans-Montana. Even 21 months after the 2027 World Cup host had been chosen, the World Cup contract between the FIS and the organizer had not been signed. What's more, the world federation even threatened to withdraw the World Championships if Swiss-Ski failed to meet the contractual obligations set out in the bid dossier.
This referred to the financial guarantees provided by the federal government, the canton of Valais and the Crans-Montana municipal association when the bid was submitted. Swiss-Ski immediately rejected the accusation and complained that various allegations were "simply not true". In the meantime, the negotiating partners had "successfully worked on settling the last outstanding details", Swiss-Ski announced on Friday.
"It took a lot of patience from all parties to settle all the details of the agreement," Urs Lehmann, President of Swiss-Ski and the Organizing Committee, was quoted as saying in the press release. "We are delighted that we have now been able to conclude an organizer agreement that is coherent for all stakeholders. From now on, all partners can devote their full attention to the further preparations so that we can experience the great ski festival in Crans-Montana in 2027 that everyone is already looking forward to."
