Coronavirus update: FIS delays decision on Cortina

On Monday, the FIS Council held an emergency telephone conference to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and the status of World Cup Finals, scheduled to take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo March 18-22. Cortina lies in the Veneto region of northern Italy, which is currently under a level 4 travel warning — the highest warning — from the U.S. government.

In a communication released after the call, the FIS said:

“After a long discussion, the council agreed with the request of the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) on the advice of the Italian Regional Government and Health Authorities in Veneto to wait until Friday, March 6 to make a final decision on the staging of the FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Cortina. This is also the date specified by the authorities for their next general update in regard to the status of controlling measures that have been undertaken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and any measures that will be implemented,” the statement reads.

Moving forward, the FIS is continuing to adhere to the decisions made by national and regional governments and their health authorities, regarding races scheduled for the remainder of the season, according to the statement.

On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the federal response in the U.S., announced that the U.S. government has raised the travel warning to level 4, the most severe warning that can be implemented by the State Department, for the Veneto region of Italy. The warning urges American citizens not to travel to the Lombardy and Veneto regions due to the level of community transmissions of the virus and the imposition of local quarantine procedures.

On Sunday, USSS President & CEO Tiger Shaw told Ski Racing Media that U.S. Ski & Snowboard plans to follow all federal recommendations with regard to outbound travel for athletes and staff, but the situation is fluid.

“Veneto is now a level 4 warning. Clearly, we’re going to heed that,” said Shaw. “Does that impact Finals? Obviously. But, again, this is day-by-day decision making. … We’re reevaluating this daily, if not more often, and we’re going to be making decisions on the fly as we roll into next week.”

Meanwhile, Peter Schrocksnadel, president of Ski Austria, is in favor of an immediate stoppage of the World Cup season.

“I’m actually in favor of canceling everything,” Schrocksnadel told ORF Austria, “because you can tear open something at the airports at any time and then you drag it in, and you’re in quarantine.”

Schroecksnadel is one of 18 representatives on the FIS Council.

A decision from the FIS was scheduled for Monday but has now been officially delayed until the end of the week. In its statement, the FIS said any changes to the current competition schedule will be announced as those decisions are made.