Three Norwegian ski jumping officials have been handed 18-month bans by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) for their involvement in a suit manipulation scandal. Head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten were suspended for the period requested by the FIS, which announced the verdicts on Thursday.
The scandal erupted during the Nordic ski world championships in Trondheim last March, where secretly filmed footage revealed the restitching of suits to increase their size, allowing athletes to fly further. The alterations circumvented pre-approval regulations and could only be confirmed by tearing apart the crotch seams of the Norwegian team suits.
An independent panel, led by sports law pioneer Michael Beloff, affirmed the appropriateness of the sanctions. The panel stated: "The panel’s starting point is that cheating of any kind is inherently antithetical to sport and its values."
Earlier, Olympic gold medallists Johann André Forfang and Marius Lindvik accepted three-month bans in August and have since returned to World Cup competitions. Both were disqualified from the men's large hill event in Trondheim after placing second and fourth respectively, but retained their normal hill title (Lindvik) and bronze medals from the team event.
In Trondheim, Brevik and Livelten quickly admitted their guilt, insisting the cheating occurred only before the large hill event. The bans have been backdated to the time of the world championships and will expire in September, just weeks before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, which run from February 6-22.
