Skiing body FIS signs Azerbaijan to five-year sponsor deal for world championships

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GENEVA (AP) — Skiing’s governing body signed the oil- and gas-rich state of Azerbaijan on Tuesday as its first global sponsor of world championships which face challenges from changing climate.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the five-year deal with Azerbaijan’s tourism agency through the 2030 season also includes the World Cup in some disciplines, including aerials, ski cross and snowboard cross.

“Above and beyond marketing rights, the core element of the strategic partnership is to promote and develop Azerbaijan’s status as a world-class winter sports destination,” FIS said in a statement.

The value of the sponsorship was not detailed.

Azerbaijan has previously used its fossil fuels revenue to invest in soccer sponsorship with UEFA and Spanish club Atletico Madrid, and hosting Formula 1 races.

The state led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev hosted the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015 and twice bid for the Summer Games, of 2016 and 2020. Baku was not accepted as an official candidate by the International Olympic Committee.

FIS president Johan Eliasch is a long-time advocate for the environment, including in his campaign for the IOC presidential election in March that highlighted climate change.

“The urgency and scale of this challenge is increasingly real to people across the world, and they are desperately seeking practical and trustworthy leadership,” Eliasch wrote in his manifesto that claimed “80% of people around the world want more climate action.”

FIS acknowledged in November “winter sports and tourism face a bleak future because of climate change” when the Switzerland-based governing body announced a working partnership with the United Nations weather agency in Geneva.

Azerbaijan “is home to several ski resorts,” FIS said on Tuesday, and cited the Shahdag venue as a “paradise for skiers and snowboarders, at more than 2,300 meters above sea level.”

“We are inviting the world to take another look and discover our country as a wonderful place of stunning mountain ranges and snow,” the chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Fuad Naghiyev, said in the FIS statement.

Eliasch added the Azerbaijan partnership “ticks all the boxes. It brings value to the entire range of our disciplines, to further the development of snow sports across all levels — from recreational to elite — and takes us into a new exciting growth market.”

Azerbaijan has competed at each Winter Games since 1998 though has never won a medal.

It sent two athletes to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, both in figure skating, and none in the six snow sports organized by FIS.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports