Facts: Johan Eliasch
Age: 60 years
Background: Raised in Stockholm, lived for many years in London and has British citizenship.
Business: Successful businessman. Among other things, CEO of the sports company Head, which has contributed to him being a multi-billionaire.
The climate: Has a great commitment to the climate and has, among other things, founded the organization Cool Earth, which works to preserve the rainforest.
At the end of May, Johan Eliasch was re-elected chairman of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (Fis) for another four years, after a stormy vote.
First, the voting procedure had to be interrupted after protests against the fact that it was not possible to vote no when Johan Eliasch was the sole candidate. When the vote was resumed, representatives from several member nations left the room.
Eliasch received 70 yes votes and 47 votes were cast.
The voting process has since been appealed to the Sports Arbitration Court (Cas) by the heavy ski nations Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Croatia.
Authoritarian and top-down
This is just part of a larger storm that flared up around Johan Eliasch and his leadership, who are accused of being authoritarian and top-down.
The criticism comes from Sweden, among others:
– If you are to lead a member organization with so many countries, it is necessary that you work with change, communication and that the members understand what is happening. That you have them with you. Here we do not recognize ourselves in such a way of working, says Karin Mattsson, chairman of the Swedish Ski Association.
She likens it to the fact that Fis has been run as a company for the past year. Johan Eliasch has a background from the business world (he is the CEO of the ski company Head).
– It is very top-down and there is not enough influence. Here it is important to do it in a way that makes you have the members with you. Then you can not agree or always think the same. But you need to feel an influence in the process, says Karin Mattsson and continues:
– We will be more active in this issue. We have also been told that Johan Eliasch will start a dialogue with us affiliates after the summer. We are positive about that.
Correct voting
She emphasizes that the Swedish criticism is about Johan Eliasch’s leadership and not how the election of the chairman was designed.
– We can not say that something was done wrong because there was no opponent. According to Swedish association tradition, you can not vote no, says Karin Mattsson and emphasizes that Sweden is not behind the appeal to Cas.
Karin Mattsson does not want to reveal how Sweden voted because it was a secret ballot.
Karin Mattsson, chairman of the Swedish Ski Association. Stock Photography.A power struggle
At the same time, there are signs of an erupting power struggle in Fis, where there is much to suggest that Urs Lehmann, chairman of the Swiss Ski Federation, is the main opponent.
A year ago, he was one of the opposing candidates when Johan Eliasch was elected chairman of Fis when Gian-Franco Kasper resigned due to health reasons.
Since Urs Lehmann has been a driving force in the application to Cas, it is speculated that he will eventually challenge Johan Eliasch.
When Swedish Mats Årjes, who sits on Fi’s board, is asked that question, he answers diplomatically:
– At least there are very many who believe it.
Johan Eliasch answers
Johan Eliasch answers in writing to TT’s questions, which include that he should pursue an authoritarian leadership:
“My door is always open and I am available to all associations and stakeholders. We even created working groups where the unions were represented and we exchanged views on important future topics.”
“At the same time, I was elected a year ago because I stood for change and everyone realized the need for modernization. Change is never easy, but it is absolutely necessary to lead our sport into the coming years. The task now is to implement this change together . “