Debate Ignites Over Fairness and Communication of New FIS Wild Card Rule

Featured Image: Marcel Hirscher (AUT). Photo: GEPA pictures/ Daniel Goetzhaber

Athletes, coaches and leadership within the alpine ski racing community debate the fairness and the communication process surrounding the new FIS Wild Card addition to the 2024/25 Rules for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. There are differing opinions. Daniel Yule tells Swiss media that he was not consulted about the rule, in contradiction to other media reports.

The Wild Card – in Brief

The new FIS rule (article 3.2.1) states that “a Wild Card can be granted to athletes who have won either a World Cup Overall Globe, an Event Globe (DH, SG, GS or SL under the condition of a minimum of five (5) World Cup victories), Olympic Gold Medal (Individual) or World Championship Gold Medal (Individual).”

The new rule allows previous top racers who decide to return to the sport, such as Marcel Hirscher, to enter the World Cup without being ranked among the first 150 athletes on the valid FIS points list in the discipline in question or within the first 30 on the World Cup starting list (WCSL) in SL, GS, SG, DH or AC.

Also, a Wild Card holder may start immediately after the top 30 in World Cup races for an entire season instead of starting further back in the field by their FIS ranking points when returning to the World Cup.

A recent Ski Racing article provides further details about the Wild Card.

Daniel Yule: “No one spoke to me.”

A published European media report, which Ski Racing Media used as a source in a previous article, stated that Daniel Yule and Verena Stauffer, as athlete spokespersons with the FIS, discussed the Wild Card rule with FIS staff this spring.

Update: It is not correct that Yule is a FIS athlete spokesperson, and we apologize for the inclusion of incorrect information in our previous article. The information has been removed. To further clarify:

On August 2, Swiss slalom specialist Daniel Yule tells Swiss newspaper Blick.ch that he has not been involved in the creation of the FIS Wild Card rule:

“No one spoke to me about this before the FIS Congress. And had they asked me, I would have said no to this wildcard seeding for old champions, although Marcel Hirscher undoubtedly represents added value for our sport,” Yule states, according to Blick.ch.

AJ Ginnis Not Pleased

Additionally, the 2023 slalom World Championship silver medalist, GreSki’s AJ Ginnis, is unhappy with the communication surrounding the Wild Card decision, according to Blick.ch:

“If the FIS claims they discussed the new rule with the athletes, it is untrue. In the WhatsApp group, which all the technical specialists in the World Cup are members of, no one knew anything about it. That reminds me of last year when the FIS wanted to introduce the team combination. Back then, too, the World Association announced that they had spoken to the athletes, although that did not happen,” the Greek racer tells Blick.ch.

Swiss Ski President Sees Benefits

The president of the Swiss ski association, Swiss Ski, is more positive towards the new rule, according to Blick.ch on August 2:

“From a purely sporting point of view, I can understand that the athletes are frowning at this decision. However, from an economic point of view, the wildcard for Hirscher represents an opportunity for all racers. A few million more people worldwide will tune in to the television feed when a champion as great as Hirscher makes his comeback in Sölden. And with better TV ratings, the market value of all starters increases,” Swiss Ski President Urs Lehmann says, according to Blick.ch.