FIS — International Ski and Snowboard Federation

What is the FIS?

The FIS, since 2022 the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, is the international federation for skiing and snowboarding. On its own site the federation states that “FIS globally governs skiing and snowboarding and oversees over 7,000 events annually in Alpine, Cross-Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle, Snowboard, and more.”^[1] The acronym comes from the original French name, Fédération Internationale de Ski, and was kept when the long-form name changed.^[3][4]

The federation’s Facts & Figures page lists its disciplines as alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing and snowboarding, together with para alpine skiing, para cross-country and para snowboard.^[2] Olympedia, an independent Olympic-history database, adds that the FIS also governs the non-Olympic disciplines of “freeride, speed skiing, grass skiing, and telemark skiing.”^[4]

By the federation’s own figures, “more than 7’000 FIS ski and snowboard competitions are staged annually”, about 330 of them at World Cup level, and more than 39,000 athletes hold an active FIS licence; it reports annual income of 47 million Swiss francs.^[2]

What does the FIS govern?

The FIS writes the competition rules for each of its disciplines, registers competitions on its calendar and licenses the athletes who enter them, more than 39,000 of them active by its count.^[2] Results are published in the FIS Points & Results Database. Its document library publishes, among other instruments, the FIS Rules and Terms of Reference for Committees 2025 (dated 26 March 2026), the Rules for the FIS Calendar and Registration Fees (17 September 2024) and the FIS Rules on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions.^[5] See athlete registration and licences.

Anti-doping. The International Testing Agency states that it “is supporting FIS with the delivery of their anti-doping program since January 2021”, with in- and out-of-competition testing, therapeutic use exemptions, results management and the athlete biological passport among the delegated services.^[6] See anti-doping.

Neutral athletes. The same library carries the FIS Individual Neutral Athlete Policy, dated 2 December 2025, with an annex dated 8 December 2025.^[5] See national suspensions and neutral athletes.

When was the FIS founded and where is it based?

The FIS dates its founding to “The 2nd February, 1924”, when delegates gathered at the Hotel Majestic in Chamonix during the first Olympic Winter Games; its history page records that the French name “Fédération Internationale de Ski was coined; FIS was officially born” after the British delegate Sir Harry Brittain proposed using French.^[3] Olympedia independently gives the same date, “2 February 1924, during the Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix”, and records that the FIS “succeeded the Internationale Skikommission, which had been formed on 18 February 1910 in Christiania (today Oslo, Norway)”.^[4] The founding date is therefore confirmed by an independent source; the 1910 commission is a predecessor, not the same body.

Renaming. Olympedia records: “On 26 May 2022, at the FIS Congress in Milano, Italy, its name was changed to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, to recognize the discipline of snowboarding.”^[4] The federation’s own Facts & Figures page now uses the name “International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS)”; the acronym did not change.^[2]

Seat. The FIS gives its headquarters as “Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland”, and Olympedia gives the same place.^[2][4] The federation’s statutes, which would state its legal seat and form, could not be retrieved from its document library.

How is the FIS recognised?

IOC. The International Testing Agency’s profile of the federation states: “Recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIS manages the Olympic disciplines of Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding, including setting the international competition rules.”^[6] The federation’s own Facts & Figures page describes it as “Recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)”.^[2] FIS disciplines make up much of the Winter Olympic programme: at Milano Cortina 2026, held from 4 to 22 February 2026, Olympedia lists alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding among the sports contested.^[9] The year of the federation’s IOC recognition could not be established: the FIS Inside FIS, History and Facts & Figures pages and Olympedia’s organisation page were each opened, and none gives it.^[3][4] See Olympic programme.

Winter federations. The winter Olympic federations have their own association, the AIOWF, which Olympedia describes as based in Zürich and as dealing with “specific questions concerning winter sports in general, and the Olympic Winter Games in particular.”^[8] The AIOWF’s own member list could not be retrieved.

WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of Code signatories includes the “International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS)” under the heading “WOF members”.^[7]

Paralympic sport. The FIS states that it is recognised by the International Paralympic Committee, and lists para alpine skiing, para cross-country and para snowboard among its disciplines.^[2] See para sport governance.

What does the FIS organise?

World Championships. The FIS Facts & Figures page counts nine World Championships, which it describes as held “biannually”: alpine, Nordic, freestyle skiing/snowboarding, para alpine, para cross-country, para snowboard, telemark, grass skiing and speed skiing.^[2] The next alpine edition is scheduled for February 2027: the FIS announced on 13 September 2024 that “The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2027 will be held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, from 1 to 14 February, as foreseen in the original decision made by the FIS Council in May 2022.” Crans-Montana last hosted the championships in 1987.^[11] See FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

World Cups. Of the more than 7,000 competitions the federation registers each year, about 330 are at World Cup level, by its own count.^[2] The alpine series is covered at FIS Alpine Ski World Cup.

Olympic Winter Games. Olympedia describes the FIS as governing alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding at the Games.^[4] The most recent edition, Milano Cortina 2026, ran from 4 to 22 February 2026 and all six were on its programme.^[9]

Who are its members?

The FIS is an association of national ski associations. Its Facts & Figures page gives “141 member nations”, and Olympedia records that “As of January 2026, the FIS has 141 affiliated member nations”.^[2][4] The International Testing Agency’s undated profile of the federation gives a different figure, 133 member nations.^[6] National associations apply through the federation’s membership application form, dated 22 May 2024 in its document library.^[5] In the United States the member is U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

The members meet in the FIS Congress, which elects the President. At the Congress in Belgrade in June 2026, dpa reported on 11 June, Alexander Ospelt of Liechtenstein defeated the incumbent, Johan Eliasch, by 65 votes to 64.^[10] Olympedia lists Eliasch as President from 2021 to 2026 and Ospelt from 2026.^[4]

The federation’s history page lists the FIS Presidents from Ivar Holmquist (1924–1934) onward, and records that the founding delegates at Chamonix came from across Europe, “from Scandinavia to Czechoslovakia, Britain to Austria”; it does not give their number.^[3]