Italy's bid to move Bormio DH met with disbelief

In a baffling move, the Italian Ski Federation withdrew the classic New Year’s downhill from Bormio and asked to have the race transferred to an unknown Italian venue in the Valle d’Aosta, La Thuile, throwing the 2008-09 FIS World Cup alpine calendar into chaos.
    In addition, the Italian Ski Federation requested a slalom be moved from the highly successful Alta Badia venue to Sestriere.
    Guenter Hujara, the FIS professional in charge of the men’s alpine World Cup, called the move very harmful to the World Cup circuit’s attempt to establish media value and consistency in its sites.
    “This damages our efforts to build up a Grand Prix system,” the obviously upset Hujara said.
ZURICH, Switzerland — In a baffling move, the Italian Ski Federation withdrew the classic New Year’s downhill from Bormio and asked to have the race transferred to an unknown Italian venue in the Valle d’Aosta, La Thuile, throwing the 2008-09 FIS World Cup alpine calendar into chaos.
    In addition, the Italian Ski Federation requested a slalom be moved from the highly successful Alta Badia venue to Sestriere.
    Guenter Hujara, the FIS professional in charge of the men’s alpine World Cup, called the move very harmful to the World Cup circuit’s attempt to establish media value and consistency in its sites.
    “This damages our efforts to build up a Grand Prix system,” the obviously upset Hujara said.
    The Italian representative on the World Cup committee, Luciano Zanier, offered no explanation for the federation’s request for the change of venues despite attempts to gain an explanation by committee representatives from Germany and Sweden.
    The alpine World Cup calendar is generally set two years in advance and requests for such a dramatic change at this late date has not been heard of since the early 1990s, when calendar conferences were comprised mostly of power plays and shouting matches. Since then, the FIS professionals have made up the calendar with the strategy of being consistent and returning to known venues year after year.
    To most of the World Cup committee delegates, the request to eliminate Bormio, which has held a highly successful race for the past decade, was stunning. Furthermore, to move the slalom from Alta Badia to Sestriere made little sense to most as well. Alta Badia attracts 25,000 spectators to its Sunday slalom event and has spent up to $1 million in improving its finish stadium in the past year.
    “Why would you move such a successful race which attracts many fans to a place which hasn't attracted more than 1,000 fans since the days of Alberto Tomba,” noted one committee member who declined to be identified.
    A floor motion to change the rules to require an untested and new area to hold a FIS B and a Europa Cup prior to being considered for a World Cup race passed unanimously, putting a roadblock in front of the Italian request.
    Viktor Gertsch, the veteran head of the Wengen, Switzerland, organizing committee, expressed disbelief at the Italian proposal.
    “I have been an organizer for 40 years,” Gertsch said, “and you cannot make money on a single race. With this request we all lose.”
    The committee recommended an amended calendar to the FIS Council. In it, the slalom was moved from Alta Badia to Sestriere, but Bormio remained on the calendar.
    “This is truly Mickey Mouse,” one disgruntled observer commented, questioning why the chairman, Erich Demetz, did not gavel the request down. That question went unanswered.