Cross-country skiing: Valatiman criticism continues: “The worst I've seen”

The 2020 ski tour stops in Are on Tuesday for a special sprint. But the arrangement surrounding the competition was met with significant criticism from breeders. Among other things, several countries went on strike yesterday after being reduced to a herd garage.

Justin Fengueiro is the captain of the Great Britain national team, and he is, to say the least, unimpressed with the conditions.

– This is shocking, it is the worst thing I have seen, he told SVT Sport.

After the protests, the Italian fencing team was allocated a new space, but it wasn't ideal either.

– I'm not very happy with the new one. “We have to keep the skis outside and have no room to change,” says skier Christian Zorzi.

“There will be greater differences”

It is the small countries with the least resources that are affected above all.

– There will be greater differences, and it will be difficult for small countries to approach large countries, says Fenguero.

In addition to purely sporting conditions, it has serious consequences for the working environment of dams.

Standing here is bad from a health standpoint. It is cold and the air is bad. For a shepherd who already works long, hard days, this is completely unacceptable, Venguero says.

“I can only say sorry”

Now the International Ski Federation is responding.

“I can only say sorry and we take full responsibility for what happened yesterday,” Pierre Migneri, Fis’ competition director, tells SVT Sport.

It is believed that the reason the situation appeared this way has to do with the fact that they are not in a place that usually hosts the World Cup in cross-country skiing.

– It is a very difficult situation when we are not in a regular cross-country skiing arena, and we had to look around at the nearby buildings. But he says the local organizer did everything he could.