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≡ STOP CHEATING! ≡
The 2025 Nordic Skiing World Championships were held in Trondheim, Norway in late February and early March and, to no one’s surprise, was dominated by the home team. Norway won 33 medals (14-11-8) with Sweden closest at 12, then Germany at 11.
On the next-to-last day (8 March), Norwegian ski jumpers Johann Andre Forfang – and Olympic gold and silver medalist – and Marius Lindvik – the Beijing 2022 Olympic Large Hill winner – were disqualified for manipulations of the jumping suits to improve performance.
The head of the Norwegian jumping program admitted to cheating and the coach, Magnus Brevig, and assistant coach, Thomas Lobben, were both suspended and later left the federation. A total of five jumpers were temporarily suspended.
On Monday, the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced the referral by its Independent Ethics and Compliance Office (IECO) to the FIS Ethics Committee of charges of violations of the FIS Universal Code of Ethics and the FIS Rules on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions:
● The FIS Integrity Department agreed to bring charges against Brevik, Lobben and staff member Adrian Livelten to the FIS Ethics Committee.
● The FIS Council approved the filing of charges against jumpers Forfang and Lindvik.
● No charges were brought against the Norwegian National Ski Association, or others.
The investigation covered five specific questions:
● 1. Whether “coaches Magnus Brevig and Thomas Lobben and suit technician acted in violation of the rules in orchestrating the equipment manipulation”
● 2. Whether “athletes Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang knowingly acted in contravention of relevant FIS rules”
● 3. Whether “the conspiracy spread further in the team, either to other athletes or other staff members of the Norwegian NSA”
● 4. Whether “the Norwegian team had engaged in the same or similar equipment violations in the past”
● 5. Whether “the conspiracy spread to other teams.”
The process now, according to the announcement:
“A panel of three unconflicted members of the [FIS Ethics Committee] will be appointed by the Chair of the FEC to adjudicate the case. The chairperson of the panel will contact the interested parties to communicate the next procedural steps, which may involve convening a hearing or otherwise coordinating further submissions from concerned parties.”
The potential sanctions include suspensions, fines and disqualification of results. While the coaches and staff are no longer with the Norwegian federation, both Forfang (30) and Lindvik (27) are leading candidates for the Norwegian team for the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina (ITA).
A decision is due under the FIS rules within 30 days after the hearing process has concluded. The decision of the FIS Ethics Committee can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIS is making a public issue of the suit manipulation incidents to promote its anti-cheating programs and to underscore its serious approach to this incident and to its new rules, now in place.
At the opening FIS Grand Prix summer event in Courchevel (FRA) last weekend, six jumpers were disqualified on Saturday for jumping suit infractions of the new rules and three more were not allowed to jump. A 10th was not allowed to compete on Sunday, reinforcing the serious approach to the new rules.
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