Gian Franco Kasper (24 January 1944 – 9 July 2021) was a Swiss ski official who was president of the

International Ski Federation The International Ski and Snowboard Federation, also known as FIS (), is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. It was previously known as the International Ski Federation () until 26 May 2022 when the name was cha ...

(FIS) from 1998 to 2021. He also served as a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

from 2000 to 2018 and member of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

from 2003 to 2021.

Early life

Kasper was born in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

on 24 January 1944. He studied at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, obtaining degrees in journalism, philosophy, and psychology. After his university studies, he worked as an editor for the ''St. Moritz Kurier''. He later went into the tourism industry, founding a Swiss tourism office in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1974 and serving as its manager.

Career

Kasper was appointed Secretary-General of the

in 1975 by

Marc Hodler Marc Hodler ( – ) was a Swiss lawyer, President of the International Ski Federation (1951–1998), member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 until his death, and bridge player. Hodler is best known for having exposed the Oly ...

, its president at the time. He held the post until Hodler's retirement in 1998. Kasper subsequently succeeded Hodler as FIS president, a position he held until one month before his death in 2021. He became a member of the

in 2000. He served in that capacity until 2018, when he was conferred honorary member status and the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

. Kasper also sat on the executive committee of the

starting in 2003. In 2005 he expressed opposition to sanctioning women's ski jumping in the Olympics on medical grounds, saying it "seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view". In February 2019, Kasper stated in an interview that he preferred working with

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

s over

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s. He also questioned climate change and welcomed

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

. A nonprofit organization

Protect Our Winters Protect Our Winters (POW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that focuses on law reform for environmental issues and civic engagement campaigns such as sharing news from climate scientists. The organization's headquarters are located in Boulde ...

condemned the statement and demanded that Kasper resign from the presidency of FIS. Following the controversy, Kasper apologized for his comments. He retired as president of the FIS in June 2021, a year before the expiry of his term. He was succeeded by

Johan Eliasch Johan Eliasch (born February 1962) is a Swedish-British businessman, investor, sports administrator, environmentalist, and philanthropist. He was the chief executive of Head, a sporting goods company, from 1995 to 2021, and is now its chairman. ...

Personal life and death

Kasper was married and had one child. He resided in

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

while also maintaining a house in his hometown. He received an honorary doctorate from the National Sports Academy of Bulgaria in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

on 14 December 2007. He was also conferred the 2018 Eagle Award by the

United States Sports Academy The United States Sports University is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided ...

. Kasper died on 9 July 2021, at age 77.''Former FIS President Gian Franco Kasper passes away.''
In: FIS, 10. Juli 2021. The cause of death was unknown.

References

*FIS Newsflash 157. 12 December 2007. *FIS Newsflash 213. 7 January 2009.
3 February 2001 ''International Herald Tribune'' interview with Kaspar.Why Are Women Being Left Out in the Cold?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasper, Gian Franco 1944 births 2021 deaths People from Maloja District International Ski and Snowboard Federation executives Swiss International Olympic Committee members World Anti-Doping Agency members University of Zurich alumni