The Finnish Ski Federation is now ready to sign the organizing agreement for the Lahti 2029 World Championships with the International Ski Federation.
Finnish Ski Association announced on Mondaythat the city of Lahti and the Lahti Ski Association have reached an agreement on the local cost-sharing agreement for the Lahti 2029 World Championships.
Thus, the Finnish Skiing Federation is ready to sign the organizing agreement for the 2029 World Championships with the International Ski Federation (FIS).
In May, reported that the board of the Ski Association had decided to play it safe in its meeting. The background was the massive financial losses of 1.9 million euros in the financial year that ended.
At that time, the Ski Federation informed the FIS that it would not yet sign the first version it had received regarding the organization of the World Championships in Lahti. In practice, it was about money, i.e. the distribution of income and risk of an international event.
At the FIS Congress held earlier in June, the International Ski Federation granted additional time to the application process for the Lahti World Championships until July 4.
– Throughout the whole process, we have had a stable common will with the city of Lahti and the Lahti Ski Club to find the necessary means to organize the games. From the point of view of the Ski Association and responsible management, it has been crucial for us in the unstable economic situation to reach a consensus on the local cost sharing agreement, says the chairman of the Ski Association Sirpa Korkatti.
According to the skiing association, the common desire has been for all parties to build a financially sustainable and successful, future-oriented World Championship cooperation. The direct economic impact on the Lahti economic region is estimated to be 40.1 million euros.
– The importance of the Games is great from many different points of view. First of all, it is a wonderful continuation of organizing the World Cup for Finland and Lahti. Naturally, the importance of the Games in economic terms is also significant, especially for companies in the Lahti region. For athletes, upcoming home competitions are always a special goal and a source of motivation, Korkatti is happy.
FIS’ hosting agreement (Hosting Agreement) grants hosting rights for the World Cup to a selected country, and more precisely to a region or city. The agreement defines in detail the rights and obligations between the FIS and the local organizer of the World Cup in order to organize the World Cup. The agreement is signed between FIS and the national federation acting as the primary applicant (Finnish Ski Federation) and the host city.
Read more in this article.