During the cross-country premiere in Bruksvallarna last year, critical voices were raised.
The sums of the prize checks were questioned, with the winner receiving SEK 1,500.
– The sum you got today won’t get you far when you have to pay the rent, said the winner of the 10-kilometer race Eric Rosjö to SVT Sport.
Simon Andersson came sixth in another race and says today:
– I got a box with a fish and two sausages, it was good, but it is difficult to pay the rent with it.
The low prize money prompted the riding council to act.
– We wanted change so we contacted the association, says Simon Stenberg, rider representative to SVT Sport.
In this year’s premiere in Gällivare, the prize money is higher, with the winner receiving SEK 8,000.
– It’s not a big prize money, we have more than Bruksvallarna, but it’s still very low prize money, I think myself, says competition leader Leif Johansson to SVT Sport.
Criticism of the union: “Too bad a job”
Simon Andersson belongs to the national elite. Last season he combined the World Cup with national competitions. He earned around SEK 25,000, after tax, on his skiing last season.
Karl-Johan Westberg also belongs to the national elite and thinks that something must be done.
– I have sat in premises with the ski association and it feels like some people are completely ignorant of the fact that you earn so little money, he says and continues:
– Someone is doing too bad a job, because we active people should be better off financially.
Increases the prize money – the rumors about the sums
Lars Öberg, long distance manager at the Swedish Skiing Association:
– It is of course unfortunate and I cannot take away from them and other activists their feeling that too little is being done and that there is a misunderstanding, but I still have to say the opposite, there is an understanding, then we are limited by the financial means we can use, he tells SVT Sport.