“When a team wins consistently, the viewership drops and the sponsors start to leave.” Vasiliev on the financial problems of the Norwegian ski team

Two-time Olympic biathlon champion Dmitry Vasiliev told that the financial problems of the Norwegian ski team are due to the fact that the competitions where they are constantly strong no longer interest viewers and sponsors.

Previously, the Norwegian publication VG reported that the composition of the Norwegian cross-country team next season will be reduced due to financial problems. Currently, the Norwegian national team consists of 24 athletes: 13 men (sprint and distance teams) and 11 women. After the reductions, the team will consist of 10 skiers each. This is due to budget cuts. Norwegian cross-country team manager Espen Bjervig said earlier that the Norwegian krone’s weakness against the euro and Swiss franc, rising petrol prices, travel and hotels impose a cost-cutting plan that “affects everyone”.

Last week it became known that the Norwegian national team would stop cooperating with Norengros, a company specializing in the wholesale of household items. The company has been a sponsor of the Norwegian Ski Association for 20 years.

– Everything has been going for a long time, because the Norwegians, using doping and hiding behind certificates, beat the rest of the world. And when a team consistently wins, the audience for the competition drops on television, advertising has no effect. The sponsors, considering these facts, start to leave, it becomes uninteresting to them. Norwegian skiers and biathletes believe they are smarter than everyone else, but you don’t have to be a teacher here to understand mundane things, Vasilyev told .

Russian skiers did not participate in international competitions in the 2022/23 season, as they were suspended by the International Ski Federation (FIS) due to the situation in Ukraine.