The wealthy leader of global skiing’s top organization has secured an unexpected path to re-election after his home nations declined to support his campaign.
Johan Eliasch, who holds dual citizenship in Britain and Sweden, will compete for another term as president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation with backing from Georgia, according to Wednesday’s candidate announcement from the organization’s headquarters in Oberhofen, Switzerland.
The revelation ended weeks of uncertainty about which country would sponsor Eliasch’s candidacy for the June 11 leadership vote. His situation became complicated when Britain’s snowsport federation chose to nominate its own chief executive, Victoria Gosling, while Swedish media outlets reported their national federation would not endorse Eliasch, who has faced criticism from various European skiing officials.
The billionaire businessman, who was born in Sweden and owns the Head equipment company that supplies skis to elite athletes like Lindsey Vonn, previously won the FIS leadership role in 2021 with British support. He also competed unsuccessfully for the International Olympic Committee presidency last year as a British representative, losing to Kirsty Coventry. Eliasch has served as an IOC member since 2022.
Federation rules mandate that presidential hopefuls must possess valid citizenship documents from their sponsoring nation.
Questions had swirled around where Eliasch would secure nomination support, and it remains unclear why Georgia has stepped forward as his sponsor country.
Four additional candidates will challenge Eliasch: Dexter Paine representing the United States, Anna Harboe Falkenberg from Denmark, and Alexander Ospelt of Liechtenstein.
An international review panel will evaluate all nominees before the federation distributes the final candidate roster to member organizations on May 20.
The decisive election meeting is scheduled for Belgrade, Serbia in June.
