Editor's Note: The FIS has not responded to questions from FasterSkier.com regarding how limits on the number of teams could affect cross-country skiing. We assume that such limits would be confined to teams that the FIS considers “exotic.”
In May 2007, the International Olympic Committee advised the International Federations (IFs) that the Qualification and Participation Criteria for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games would be analyzed by the IOC at the end of August. Due to logistical, organizational and financial problems facing the Vancouver Organizing Committee with accommodation notably in Whistler, the IOC is obliged to introduce maximum team numbers for all sports, and not just for some sports as has been the case until now.
Even though the IOC alone will take a final decision in regard to the regulations for the National Olympic Committee's participation in the Olympic Winter Games, FIS has undertaken extensive analyses in regard to implementing the Principles defined in the IOC documentation.
Regrettably, it has not been possible to consult all National Ski Associations and the FIS Committees on this subject, due to the short time given by the IOC. Furthermore the situation is more complex for FIS than the other IFs due to the fact that we have six entirely unique disciplines that have to be looked at independently. In this respect, each FIS Technical Committee can (and may) only be concerned about its own discipline, and each National Ski Association is rightly concerned about how the quota system affects its own opportunity to participate in the Games with as many athletes and officials as it would like in the National Olympic Committee's delegation.
