Maurberger angry: “It’s not sport, it’s politics”

For him it is clear: “This is not sport, this is politics.” Simon Maurberger has fallen victim to a questionable quota system and also to races that can definitely be described as rigged. “I've been checking for the last few days. There are people from Jamaica and Eritrea. When things are right, they never undercut the 160 FIS points that are necessary to get a quota place,” says Maurberger. What he means are FIS races in which only 10 runners take part and people with good FIS points deliberately drive a little slower so that there are good FIS points for others. Such races are said to have taken place in Dubai and Liechtenstein. Runners from Jamaica and Eritrea, among others, also qualified for the Olympics there. Quota places: A “scandal” The skiing nation of Italy is only allowed to send 7 men to the Olympic Games. A few quota places have become available this week. While Austria got two straight away, none went to Italy. “It makes you wonder why Italy lost out again. Maybe our association took care of it too late,” suspects Maurberger and adds: “If a top nation only has 2 starting places, then that is a scandal.” “Neither President Roda nor Alpine Director Rinaldi have contacted me in the last few days” Simon Maurberger He has two top ten places in the slalom this season and could also compete in the giant slalom, where he qualified for the second run three times. But because 2 slalom runners were better, 2 speed specialists were nominated and Luca De Aliprandini (giant slalom) is already fixed, there was no place left. There was not a word of regret from the association. “Neither President Roda nor Alpine Director Rinaldi have contacted me in the last few days,” says Maurberger. Maurberger also with self-criticism Maurberger was at least as annoyed about his own performance in the slalom in Schladming as he was about the absurd quota regulations. “That's actually what bothers me the most is that I didn't take advantage of a good opportunity there. I made a mistake with the material in the second run.” Of course, he would only have jumped on the Beijing bandwagon if he had finished in the top five. During the Olympic break he wants to concentrate more on giant slalom again. He also plans to compete in 2 European Cup giant slaloms at the Reiteralm next week. When he looks back at how the season has gone so far, he is convinced that more could have been possible. “Some races were really good, but there are also some that I prefer to erase from my memory. Sometimes I tried something that was wrong. Then you won’t even be in the second run anymore,” says the Ahrntaler.

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Maurberger angry: “It’s not sport, it’s politics”

Simon Maurberger is feeling pretty confused right now. People from Jamaica and Eritrea are taking part in the Olympic ski races, but he has to stay at home.

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