Earlier this month FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper announced at the annual federation Seafood Dinner the new regulations for snowboard graphics that would be allowed in FIS sanctioned contests, he did so with the backing of IOC president Thomas Bach. The committee has decided to disallow graphics which depict ‘the female form in an inappropriate manner’.
“Ban any form of female nudity on snowboard topsheet graphics”
FIS representative Scott Chegg released a statement “We at the FIS are proud to be an inclusive committee, representing all people. We have made the bold move to ban any form of female nudity on snowboard topsheet graphics in an attempt to make the sport more accessible to women.” In short – any snowboarder who wants to compete at an FIS sanctioned event cannot be associated with a brand that uses any imagery of naked chicks for their graphics. The ban would come into effect starting season 2021/2022.
This would take many of the worlds best riders out of contention for the World Championships and the Olympics… So what does this mean for the sport? In theory there are 2 roads that can be taken – 1. Everyone boycotts FIS events a la Terje Haakonsen or 2. Companies take the naked ladies off their boards.
Is this just a publicity stunt, a desperate grab for some good press after he came under fire for denying climate change to a Swiss news paper earlier this year? Although, to be fair to him, it was very cold in Pyeongchang, so global warming probably seemed like a far fetched dream.
In the same interview Kasper said that organising competitions in countries with dictatorships was far easier “from the business side, I say: I just want to go to dictatorships, I do not want to argue with environmentalists.”