FIL Presidium and Executive Board elected: Einars Fogelis, Bell, Zöggeler, DelNegro and Schwab for another four years
Hall (FIL) Einars Fogelis was re-elected as President of the International Luge Federation, FIL, on Sunday, June 19 at the 70th FIL Congress in Hall in Tyrol (AUT).
In November 2020, the 62-year-old Latvian had been elected for the first time by the 68th FIL Congress to head the International Olympic Winter Sports Federation. Since then, he had completed the last term of FIL President Josef Fendt, who had been at the helm for 26 years. "I thank you for your trust and I am ready for the next four years of hard work for the FIL and the sport of luge."
Fogelis is only the third President in the history of the International Luge Federation, which was founded in 1957.
FIL Secretary General Dwight Bell (USA) was also confirmed in his position for the next four years by the delegates at the 70th FIL Congress on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Bell was first elected as Secretary General at the 68th FIL Congress in Großgmain (AUT) in 2020. He previously served as FIL Executive Member since 2018.
Harald Steyrer (AUT) announced not to run again as Vice President Finance. The only candidate for this position was Mag. Philipp Trattner, Head of the Sports Section at the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sports in Austria. The representatives of the national member federations elected Trattner, a lawyer and sports manager, as FIL Vice President for Finance.
Claire DelNegro of the USA was first elected Vice President Sport in 1998 and has held this position ever since. The 70th FIL Congress in Hall in Tirol 2022 confirmed DelNegro from Boston in her position. Previously, the former luge athlete was a member of the Sport Commission Artificial Track from 1990 to 1998.
Italian luge legend Armin Zoeggeler was confirmed in the position of Vice President Technical Affairs. The 48-year-old was first elected at the 2018 FIL Congress in Bratislava (SVK), succeeding Einars Fogelis (LAT), who was then elected Secretary General and later FIL President. Armin Zoeggeler is the only winter sports athlete who has won a medal at six Olympic Games.
Also re-elected was Thomas Schwab (GER) as Vice President Marketing. This newest position on the FIL Executive Board was filled for the first time at the 2019 FIL Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia, by Thomas Schwab, former head coach of Germany and bronze medalist at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games. Previously, the 60-year-old from Berchtesgaden was a member of the FIL Sport Commission from 1994 to 2008.
Further elected were:
Jieun Park (KOR) as Vice President Asia
Geoff Balme (NZL) as Vice President Oceania
Sorin Buta new Vice President for Natural Track and Public Sledding
The election for the FIL Vice President for Natural Track Luge was exciting. Peter Knauseder, Vice President for Natural Track Luge since the 2014 Congress in Innsbruck, did not stand for re-election. There were three candidates for Knauseder's successor Geoff Balme (NZL), Sorin Buta (ROU) and Leander Moroder (ITA). In the first ballot, Buta received 16 votes, Moroder eleven and Balme five. In the run-off election, Sorin Buta prevailed with 20 votes of the 32 member federations present and was elected FIL Vice President for Natural Track and Public Sledding for the next four years.
For the two positions of the Assessors in the FIL Executive Board, Sorina Ticu (ROU) and Markus Prock (AUT) were elected after three ballots with seven candidates:inside.
Elected to the FIL Commissions were:
Sports Commission Artificial Track
Norbert Loch / GER
Wolfgang Staudinger / KOR
Atis Strenga / LAT
Technical Commission Artificial Track
Christian Thurner / GER
Marek Skowronski / POL
Lubomir Mick / USA
Natural Track Commission
Gerald Kammerlander / AUT
Thomas Niemetz / GER
Armin Niedermair / ITA
Substitute member Revision Commission
Günther Beck / LIE
Chairman Court of Arbitration
Ben Heijmeijer / NED
Vice Chairman Court of Arbitration
Dr. Richard Moser / ITA
Members Court of Arbitration
Dr. Michael Bielowski / AUT
Erin Warren / USA
Dr. Michal Kulinski / POL
Legal Committee
Dr. Christian Krähe / GER
Dr. Andreas Ruetz / AUT
Klavs Vasks / LAT
Ethics Officer
Dr. Jochen Fritzweiler / GER
Commission Youth/Development Artificial Track
Mark Hatton / GBR
Hans-Jürgen Köhne / GER
