Ex-weapons inspector Blix to join FIS ethics board

The former head of the United Nations weapons inspection commission that looked for but did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been named to head the new FIS Ethics Committee.
    The FIS Council, which met Nov. 17, appointed Dr. Hans Blix to head the new entity a year after it created the Ethics Commission, according to FIS spokesperson Riikka Rakic, who added that the council would appoint two additional high-profile members in the near future.
OBERHOFEN, Switzerland — The former head of the United Nations weapons inspection commission that looked for but did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been named to head the new FIS Ethics Committee.
    The FIS Council, which met Nov. 17, appointed Dr. Hans Blix to head the new entity a year after it created the Ethics Commission, according to FIS spokesperson Riikka Rakic, who added that the council would appoint two additional high-profile members in the near future.
    "There have been some scandals in other sports, and we want to make sure that is not repeated in our sport," Rakic said.  
    The commission, which will report annually, has been charged to ensure that the FIS remains free of the scandals that enveloped the International Olympic Committee after former longtime FIS president and IOC member Marc Hodler spoke publicly about the buying and selling of IOC member votes.
    "The council wanted to find someone with a strong international recognition," said USSA President/CEO Bill Marolt. "Dr. Blix is at that level and will help ensure that the general public understands that the FIS is serious when it comes to ethical behavior in sport."   
    The FIS has taken steps since its 1992 congress in Budapest, where there was virtually open vote-buying for the 1997 Alpine World Championships, to ensure that the organization did not fall into the same difficulties.
    In 1996, Hodler who was then president of the FIS, maneuvered the FIS delegation into allowing the FIS Council to determine the site of World Championships, thereby eliminating the temptation by federations to vote for the highest bidder.
    Since then, under current FIS President Gian Franco Kasper, the FIS Council has taken the lead in anti-doping among international sports federations and created its ethics commission.
    Blix currently heads the Stockholm-based Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, which is sponsored by the Swedish government. Long a diplomat, Blix was formerly Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs and also headed the International Atomic Energy Agency.
    The commission is charged in principal with the following:
    • To ensure that the FIS Code of Ethics is being respected.
    • To receive complaints regarding any infringement to the present code.
    • To give advice and assistance on ethical matters, particularly as regards the application of the present code.
    • To advise on how to avoid or resolve conflicts of interest.
    • To recommend sanctions that could be taken against offenders of the present code.
    • To recommend further measures for the application and amendment of this code.