To the INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION - Members of the FIS Council Blochstrasse 2 - National Ski Associations 3653 Oberhofen/Thunersee - Committee Chairs Switzerland Tel +41 33 244 61 61 Fax +41 33 244 61 71 Oberhofen, 26th May 2020 Summary of the FIS Council Conference Call Meeting, 25th May 2020 Dear President, Dear Ski Friends, In accordance with art. 32.2 of the FIS Statutes we have pleasure in sending you the Summary of the most important decisions from the FIS Council Conference Call Meeting which took place on 25th May 2020. 1. Members present The following elected Council Members were present at the online meeting on Monday, 25th May 2020: President Gian Franco Kasper; Vice-Presidents Mats Årjes, Aki Murasato, Patrick Smith; Members: Steve Dong Yang, Dean Gosper, Alfons Hörmann, Hannah Kearney (Athletes’ Commission Representative), Roman Kumpost, Dexter Paine, Flavio Roda, Erik Roeste, Konstantin Schad (Athletes’ Commission Representative), Peter Schröcksnadel, Martti Uusitalo, Eduardo Valenzuela, Michel Vion; Secretary General Sarah Lewis Apologies: Vice-President Janez Kocijancic, Council Member Andrey Bokarev Observer: Elena Vaelbe (RUS) representing Andrey Bokarev Expert: Stephan Netzle, Legal Counsel 2. Minutes from the Council Meeting in Konstanz, November 2019 and the Council Gathering in Zurich, February 2020 The Summary and Minutes from the Council Meeting in Konstanz (GER) November 2019 and the Council Gathering in Zurich (SUI) February 2020 were unanimously approved. 3. Decisions between official meetings Between the Meeting of the Council in Konstanz (GER) on 23rd November 2019 and the Council Meeting Conference Call on Monday, 25th May 2020, one Council Gathering, one written decision and two Council Meeting Conference Calls took place, during which the Council took the following decisions: - Council E-mail Decision, 17th February 2020 (see pages 180-181) Decision of the Council to change Articles 21.2 and 22.4 of the FIS Statutes and include in the Congress Book, that the President should be elected with an absolute majority and not with a simple majority and become effective already at the 2020 FIS Congress, subject to the approval of the proposal by the delegates: “21.2 The Congress normally takes its decisions by a simple majority vote, that is by a majority of the valid votes cast. The election of the President is taken according to the absolute majority as defined in Article 22.4. Invalid or blank ballots or abstentions are not counted. 22. Elections 22.4 For the election of the President an absolute voting majority of the valid votes cast is required. A simple majority is required. If an absolute majority is not reached in the first ballot, the Candidate receiving the fewest number of votes shall be eliminated from the second ballot. This procedure shall be repeated and further ballots shall be carried out until one Candidate has received an absolute majority. In case of a tie for the last place, an additional ballot will be taken between those who tied. 22.5 For the election of the Members of the Council simple voting majority is required. In case of a tie for the last place or places a second ballot will be taken between those who tied.” - Council Meeting Conference Call, 6th March 2020 Decision of the Council to request the Italian Winter Sports Federation to withdraw the FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Cortina schedule from 18th to 22nd March 2020 due to the Covid-19, virus which had just been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. This followed the earlier decision of the Council on 2nd March 2020 during a conference call, to continue with the planning for the organisation of the Cortina 2020 finals in view of the World Health Organisation and national authorities recommendations at the time regarding the Covid-19 virus. - Council Meeting Conference Call, 27th March 2020 Decision of the Council to postpone the 52nd International Ski Congress until autumn 2020 that was scheduled for 17th to 23rd May at Royal Cliff (THA), involving postponement of the full agenda of the FIS Congress General Assembly, including the following items: Summary FIS Council Conference Call Meeting, May 2020 - 2 - - FIS World Championships 2024/25 - Election of Organisers by the Council - President and Council Members Election, Appointment of FIS Committees for the period 2020-2022 - FIS Committee Meetings / Council Meetings - FIS Womens’ and Leaders Seminars 4. Financial Matters 4.1 Report of the Finance Commission The Chairman of the FIS Finance Commission and Treasurer Mats Årjes reported on the financial matters of the International Ski Federation for the period 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2019. The online meeting of the Finance Commission which took place on 24th April 2020 to review the FIS financial affairs in preparation for the Council Meeting and the FIS Congress 2020. The main objectives of the meeting were to review the audited accounts for 2019 and the FIS financial period 2018-2019, the working budget for 2020-2021, applications for financial support and to have an open exchange about potential financial assistance for heavily impacted National Ski Associations. FIS had been relatively fortunate to date that only the last two weeks of the past World Cup season were affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. However the outlook for the future remains uncertain in terms of how the next competition season may have to be adapted and the impact on sponsor income with business suffering heavy losses at present and especially the effects of the financial markets. Therefore it is necessary for FIS to be cautious in its approach, including additional support to the National Ski Associations for the time being. The Council acknowledged the intermediate report on the FIS Accounts after the first quarter of 2020, which reflect the severe impact of of Covid-19 to the world economy and financial markets during this period with very considerable losses to the valuation of securities held by FIS with a loss of approximately 8% of their valuation. The FIS income and expenditure has however not yet been reflected during this period, e.g. receipt of sponsor payment, postponement of the FIS Congress 2020 and travelling restrictions. 4.2 FIS Accounts 01.01.2018 - 31.12.2019 The accounts were audited by the professional (external) auditors, Wistag from 21st - 24th February 2020 and they were thereafter examined by the internal auditors Peter Mennel (AUT) and Stane Valant (SLO) through the provision of documentation electronically and on-line. In summary, the financial period of 1st January 2018 - 31st December 2019 resulted in a positive surplus of CHF 11.6 million. The main elements contributing to the positive result of CHF 9.5 million more than the budget are summarised in the FIS Accounts commentary, notably: CHF +4 million income from rights, CHF -1.5 million savings on human and business expenditure and more than CHF +4 million income from financial Summary FIS Council Conference Call Meeting, May 2020 - 3 - investments. The accounts for 2019 were not directly impacted by the Covid- 19 pandemic. The overall result for the two year 2018-2019 financial period with a positive surplus of CHF 11.6 million is particularly pleasing after the difficult financial market situation in 2018 which had seen a significant loss. The external auditors commended the FIS Management on its professional work and the Finance Manager, Sibylle Gafner for the quality of bookkeeping. On recommendation of the Finance Commission, the Council approved the accounts for the financial period of 1st January 2018 - 31st December 2019. Furthermore, on proposal of the Finance Commission, the Council decided to submit and recommend the FIS Accounts 2018-2019 to the National Ski Associations for approval and discharge. 4.3 Allocation of the Result of the 2018-2019 financial period and amount to distribute to the National Ski Associations The Council approved the proposal of the Finance Commission for the Allocation of the Special Distribution of CHF 11’673’519 from the 2018 - 2019 financial period: NSA Special Distribution CHF 11’000’000 Marc Hodler Foundation CHF 673’519 Total CHF 11’673’519 There was unanimous agreement that the National Ski Associations should be supported where possible in cases of special need. However, in view of the deductions from sponsor income relating to the 2019/20 season and the uncertain outlook relating to the next competition season 2020/21 for the income from sponsor and other rights fees, it is necessary for FIS to maintain a reserve. The Council approved the recommendation of the Finance Commission and decided that from the result of the 2018 - 2019 financial period, CHF 11 million is allocated to the National Ski Associations as the Special Distribution and the remainder of CHF 673’519 is allocated to the Marc Hodler Foundation (see overview on next page). No additional funds should be released from the reserves for the time-being. According to art. 53.2 of the FIS Statutes, the accounts of the International Ski Federation for the period 01.01.2018 - 31.12.2019 will be sent to the affiliated National Ski Associations at least 21 days before the opening of the Congress. Due to the postponement of the FIS Congress 2020, on proposal of the Finance Commission, the Council decided to send to the National Ski Associations the FIS Accounts for the financial period of 1st January 2018 - 31st December 2019 including allocation of the result for their formal approval in writing, and not to wait until the FIS Congress 2020 in the autumn. Summary FIS Council Conference Call Meeting, May 2020 - 4 - In so doing, this will enable the “FIS Special Distribution” payments from the result of the period to be communicated to the National Ski Associations after the approval of the 2018 - 2019 accounts.